


Are We There Yet?

by tikii



Category: RWBY
Genre: A little bit of Ghost Dad, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Anxiety, Birb Dad and Farm Son, Bonding, Flangst ??, Fluff, Gen, I reject your canon and substitute it with mine, I'll add more tags as I add on, Mild Anxiety from the Farm Boi, NO SHIPPING THE FARM BOY, Panic Attacks, That's what you call fluff and angst right, at first it was a little angst now its a lot and im sorry, lots of fluff, me too, only platonic relationships, oscar is precious, remember when this was going to be a one shot, woah
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2019-08-09 20:51:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 68,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16457009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tikii/pseuds/tikii
Summary: In which Oscar finds time to bond with some people





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi i know i said my next work was going to be for bravely default but then i lost intrest, remembered RWBY was coming back, binge-watched the entire series and got inspiration  
> you see, oscar pine is a lovely, adorable cinnamon roll who deserves to be protected along with his dad, qrow  
> and his kind-of other dad ozpin  
> this is a multi-piece work and i guess i'll go until i run out of ideas  
> some chapters are linked from the last, but mostly these are one shots that aren't really connected. just shenanigans with the boys ft. RWBY and JNR
> 
> And there isn't a lot of angst, too! there might be a bit here and there and in the one chapter i'm writing next, but thats about it! be proud of me
> 
> so without furthur ado !!

The house was rarely this quiet. With the kids, the house was always as loud as a siren. Qrow didn’t exactly like the silence (silence was always a bad thing to him), but he appreciated it - a little silence was always welcome occasionally. Especially after a series of events like the ones at Haven.

 

Haven was a mess. Everyone had to rest for about 3 days, and Oscar stayed asleep for all 3 of those days. It turns out when a magical being takes over you for an extended period all while using energy, it really burns you out.

 

Qrow scoffed, taking a swing of alcohol from his flask. The silence was bothering him too much. Everyone had gone out to get warmer clothing for the trip to Atlas, but honestly, it would be a waste of time. They would be inside something heated for most of the trip, so there would really be no point, but these kids were stubborn as hell.

 

(He guessed that’s why they insisted on fighting back when he clearly said no.)

 

When Qrow said ‘all the kids’, he meant all the kids besides Oscar. He seemed to be afraid of them, so he stayed away a lot. No one really questioned the farm boy - he was going through a lot as it was, and maybe he preferred to be alone to sort things out. Or maybe he was just a shy, timid boy who didn’t really know how to interact with people.

 

Either way, Qrow wasn’t judging. You do you, he told the boy when he said he wasn’t going. But he couldn’t help but feel bad for Oscar. He probably just wanted someone (sans Ozpin) to talk to. Then again, Qrow wasn’t the best socializer either. The kid would probably be more intimidated than comfortable if it was just them two in a room. Alone. Not to mention something would probably either break or go wrong with his semblance going.

 

Then as he took another drink, he decided to man up and head to Oscar’s room. He knocked twice, waiting for a response. When he got nothing, he knocked again. Maybe he was taking a nap. The kid seemed to sleep a lot these days - yeah that was probably it. Softly, Qrow turned the handle and peeked inside of the room. His heart skipped a beat when he saw that no one was in the room.

 

“...Oscar?” He called softly, slowly closing the door behind him. No sign of the farm boy.

 

But the window was open.

 

Qrow cursed under his breath and searched the room. He found a small note on the nightstand with a bunch of scribbled out letter and a small ‘be right back!’ at the bottom. The window was wide open. Who knows how long ago he wrote this?

 

One thing was for he sure - he just needed to make sure Oscar was okay. Nobody can just jump out of a window and be okay. Why didn’t he go through the front door?

 

Why were these kids so complicated?

 

Groaning inwardly, Qrow walked out of the house, stood behind a tree and turned into a crow. Oscar probably either went with the others or went somewhere on his own. The kid could fend for himself, yeah, but he needed to have a serious talk about  _ jumping out the window. _

 

And what did he expect - it started to rain. Perfect, he thought with an inward groan. The next thing he had to pray for not to happen was lightning. Anything but lightning. The rain was making it hard to fly, so it was a miracle when he saw a small patch of brown hair right next to a small pond. It wasn’t too far from the house, thank the gods, so Qrow just decided to perch on a tree to make sure that was Oscar and not some other brown haired, freckled, off-white wearing young fella.

 

(Ozpin would have laughed if he knew what Qrow just thought.)

 

Sure enough, it was the farm boy. His multi-colored handkerchief was tied around the area right above his foot, and he seemed to be talking aloud. Qrow decided to get closer, but more specifically, he decided to perch on the tree that Oscar was sitting under.

 

He thought that the boy was talking to Ozpin or arguing with the wizard, but what he heard surprised him.

 

Oscar was  _ singing. _

 

Yes, singing. Qrow blinked in surprise, making sure not to accidentally turn back into a human in his surprise and fall on top of the unsuspecting boy. He forced himself to calm down and listen to what Oscar was singing (he felt like this was an invasion of privacy, but hey, Oscar was the one who made Qrow go out and find him, so it wasn’t his fault.)

 

_ And are we there yet? _

 

_ Are we there yet? _

 

_ And are we… there yet? _

 

_ Home, home, home. _

 

_ Home, home, home… _

 

Qrow let out a small sigh, letting himself relax against the tree branch. The brunet’s voice was surprisingly soft and quiet.

(Watch, he thought to himself bitterly. A tree branch is going to fall and either I’m going to change back, or it’s going to fall onto Oscar’s head and ruin this whole moment.)

 

_ Where you… could lie on the rug. _

 

_ While I… play with the dog. _

 

_ And it won’t be too much… _

 

_ Cause this is too much… _

 

_ Cause this is too much for me to hold- _

 

_ This is, _

 

_ Too much for me to hold- _

 

The emotion in Oscar’s voice was clear, and it made Qrow want to hop down and just give him a hug. Did Oscar have that effect on everyone? It sure seemed that way. He seemed to have won over everyone who they were traveling with. It made Qrow wonder why he didn’t want to go with the others, but for now, he just wanted to… listen.

 

Singing isn’t something Qrow heard often.

 

Oscar hummed the rest of the song (he probably forgot the word - oh joy. Qrow’s semblance really liked to mess with every nice moment, didn’t it?) and when he was done, he fell quiet before speaking up again.

 

“I-It wasn’t that good, y’know. I forgot half of the words. That’s embarrassing.” There was more silence (Qrow assumed Ozpin was speaking) before another reply, this time one a little tinier.

 

“I-it’s fine. It still hurts, t-though. B-but it’s fine! I was stupid, so it’s fine.” Qrow frowned, making a mental note to ask about it. Even though it was risky, he turned back into a human on the branch. He managed to get into a sitting position on the branch (he must’ve looked like a stalker.) and he spoke with a smirk.

 

“Y’know, I haven’t heard a voice that nice in years. Granted, I haven’t heard many voices at all.” He spoke, watching as the farm boy jumped 7 feet in the air. Oscar’s face turned bright, bright red as Qrow jumped down from the tree right next to him. The boy’s next course of action was to bury his face in his hands, obviously embarrassed. 

 

“Oh, gods you weren’t supposed to hear that- I’m so sorry you heard that.” His voice was muffled because of his hands, causing Qrow to chuckle to himself. He sat down next to Oscar and leaned against the tree, watching the rain pour. He then directed his attention to the handkerchief.

 

“We can talk about your pretty singing later - what happened to your leg, kid?” If possible, Oscar’s face got even redder as he looked up.

 

“O-oh. U-um, I actually, uh…” Qrow raised an eyebrow, half amused and half mildly concerned at his stuttering. “Um, a Grimm actually came around here and I uh, forgot to engage my aura, so it kind of slashed at me and broke my aura a little bit? Kind of? So, it started bleeding, um, obviously, so I kind of wrapped my handkerchief around the wound and I’m waiting for my aura to, uh, kick in. I think that’s how it works.” When Qrow scoffed with an amused smile, Oscar sputtered. “I-It’s not how it works, is it?”

 

“Nope. But it was a nice try. Mind telling me why you jumped out a window and came here without telling me? I’m too young to be having heart attacks, kiddo.” The hunter said, raising an eyebrow. The brunet avoided eye contact, biting his lower lip. “Well? I’m waiting.”

 

“I-I, uh… heard about this small pond from locals when I first came here. A-and I was missing home a lot and back at the farm we had a small farm where I used to play around… and so I decided to come here. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you - I just didn’t want you to question anything… maybe it would make you think less of me.” He murmured. Qrow’s eyebrows furrowed together as he frowned. Think less of him? Qrow was afraid to ask what that meant. Sighing, Qrow scooted over slightly and draped an arm over Oscar. The farm boy seemed to be alarmed at first, but soon melted into the hug, snuggling as close to the huntsman as he could. They sat in silence, just watching the rain make ripples on the pond. This was the kind of silence Qrow could get behind.

 

Of course, something had to go wrong.

 

It wasn’t life threatening, no, it was just that a lightning bolt struck the pond, frankly, scaring the everlasting daylights out of the two. Qrow kind of jumped in surprise, but Oscar let out a small yelp and grabbed onto Qrow’s cape and kind of… used it as if it were a shield. After the lightning in the air seemed to be gone. Qrow looked down at Oscar, who was curled up behind his cape, his face turning as red as the cape itself.

 

“Heh… I knew you were small but… hiding behind my cape? That’s adorable, pipsqueak.” Before Oscar could do that embarrassed sputtering thing he always did, Qrow stood up (not before wrestling his cape away from Oscar, mind you) and offered his hand to the boy. “Come on, short stack. We don’t want to get struck by lightning or catch a cold.”

 

“Agreed.” Oscar pulled himself up with the help of Qrow, but to his surprise, the huntsman didn’t let go (honestly, he didn’t want to let go for some reason.).

 

But he was fine with that.

 

Luckily (luck seemed to be a finicky word these days) the two made it back to the house, soaked. Ruby and Nora had a nice laugh, Oscar tried to hide himself behind Qrow’s cape again, and Jaune ran to get as many towels as he could find, resulting in Oscar’s hair sticking up in seventeen different directions, which made Qrow just want to bundle him up.

 

(He hasn’t felt this feeling in a long time.)

 

Instead of heading to bed, Qrow decided to make hot chocolate for Oscar. He walked into the living room with the mug to find Oscar curled up into a ball against the arm rest, murmuring to himself.

 

“N-no, please don’t take over… uh, yeah, I can tell him myself. Okay. Are you sure? I’m… I’m sure you don’t need to take over. Yeah. Okay-”

 

“Hey, squirt, what’s going on?” Qrow sat beside him and held out the mug of hot chocolate. Oscar blinked in surprise as if to say, ‘for me?’ before taking the mug and looking in it. “What? It’s hot chocolate. Never seen it before?”

 

“N-no, I have…” The brunet looked down and looked up again. “I uh… I just want to say thank you for… for everything. You’re just helpful. Thanks.” Qrow could tell that wasn’t what he wanted to say (years of being on missions makes it helpful to sniff out lies), but he let it slide for now with a noncommittal noise.

 

“Whatever you say, kid. Drink up.”

 

“Y-yes sir!”

 

Silence seemed to be an occurring thing between the two whenever they were in the same room together. But it wasn’t an awkward silence - it a comfortable silence - much more comfortable than the one from earlier today. Oscar was an awkward and anxious boy, which Qrow was more laid back and, dare he say it, more socially equipped than the boy. They seemed to balance out each other nicely.

 

Qrow didn’t even realize he had zoned out until something softly bumped his shoulder. He snapped back into reality and looked down at his shoulder, just to see the farm boy asleep with his head resting on his shoulder. Chuckling, the Huntsman carefully took the mug of hot chocolate out of Oscar’s hands and set it on the coffee table. What a precious sight.

 

(That fuzzy feeling in his chest wouldn’t really go away. It probably will never go away. But that was fine.)

 

(This was fine.)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Oscar and Qrow go into town

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> owo

The following morning, Qrow put his foot down and told Oscar that he was getting warning clothing for Atlas.

  


“I don’t want to be a bother-” Was his reasoning at first, but that reasoning was lost as Qrow dragged him out to the city of Mistral.

  


Which, honestly, was very, very overwhelming.

  


He had never seen a city this big! He had never seen so many people, so many colors; he was used to a quiet life back at a farm where he worked at sunrise and had little, quiet moments to himself to think and read and to learn.

  


Who would ever want to live in a crowded, loud, overwhelming city?

  


A lot of people.

  


Oscar gulped, stumbling on his own feet and almost crashing into a woman next to him. She gave him a weird look before continuing her way.

  


“Try not to trip over air, kid. You’ll crash into someone.” Qrow raised an eyebrow as he looked at the boy, and Oscar could feel his cheeks heat up.

  


“R-right. Sorry. Where’s the first store we must go to? Do they even have any warm-clothed stores? I shouldn’t try on anything too expensive, right? Just give me a limit, okay-”

  


“Kid. You’re giving me a headache.” Qrow grumbled, pulling Oscar to the side. Oscar opened his mouth to apologize, but he was interrupted by a tired sigh. “Look. You need to stop worrying. I can practically hear the gears in your head turning. You must be exhausting poor Oz.”

  


**_He’s not wrong. You’re thinking up a storm, Oscar. Try and calm yourself._ **

  


Be quiet, Oscar thought, playing with his gloves. “...Okay. I’m sorry. Where are we going first? Is it going to be as crowded as this place?”

  


“The entire city is very crowded, pipsqueak. You just gotta get used to it. Now follow me.”

  


**_Go on. Qrow may seem… exasperated. But he’s just as uncomfortable around here as you are. Well, maybe a little less._** A small chuckle. **_Don’t dilly-dally now._**

  


Oscar jogged to catch up with the huntsman, and in order to make sure that he didn’t get lost or separated, he grabbed on to the hem of Qrow’s shirt. Qrow looked down at him, obviously confused, but a look of understanding flashed in his eyes as he let out a small sigh.

“C’mon, kid. Let’s get going.”

  


They stopped at a small store that sold sweaters, and Oscar found himself in a fitting room with a green sweater that swallowed him whole.

  


**_There was a trend for oversized sweaters, however, I don’t think that the trend was supposed to go this far…_** Ozpin had said as Oscar looked in the mirror.

  


“S-shut up! I’m not even stepping out in this-”

  


“Hey, kid! Let me see that… sweater that you got from that pile of sweaters.”

  


Ozpin was having a field trip in his mind, Oscar could tell that much. “I-It’s too big!” A snort. “I probably shouldn’t come out-”

  


“C’mon, kid. It can’t be that bad. It’s just me out here.”

  


**_Go on._ **

  


Ozpin sounded so amused that Oscar almost didn’t step out, but he didn’t want to risk upsetting Qrow. So, he stepped out, his face as red as roses and half of his body engulfed in a giant sweater. When Qrow smirked (he had his flask in his hand, of course), the farm boy let out a puff of air before beginning to go on a rant. “It’s bad, I know. I’ll just change out of it-”

  


“Excuse me, sir.” A lady walked up to the two, a small smile on her face. She interrupted me, Oscar thought with a small huff. **_Good._** Ozpin said. Then Oscar wondered if it was possible to punch a ghost inside someone’s head. **_No, it isn’t. Unless you would like to punch yourself, of course._** “Would you like me to get your son a smaller size? We have extra, extra smalls if that would work.”

  


Qrow choked on his alcohol while Oscar quickly tried (key word- tried) to sputter out a ‘he’s not my dad we’re not related, no way.’ The lady stood there with an awkward smile on her face until Qrow spoke again. “Yes, actually. Please get my son an extra, extra small.”

  


“With pleasure.”

  


And Ozpin? Ozpin was having a ball in his mind - Oscar had never heard the wizard to amused in his time of being with him - hell, this was the first time Ozpin laughed. Shut up, shut up, shut up! Oscar thought desperately. Was it even possible to get this embarrassed?

  


“Here! Have a wonderful day, you two.” The lady came back with a smile, holding out a sweater that was identical to the one he had on, except smaller.

  


**_That looks a little more like your size._ **

  


Yeah, no kidding. Oscar let out a soft sigh and took the sweater, smiling. “Thank you, ma’am.” Qrow looked as if he was about to say something, but Oscar took no time waddling into the dressing room and quickly exchanging it. It was still too big, but at last it didn’t swallow him whole.

  


**_My… you are rather petite, aren’t you?_ **

  


Ozpin sounded almost amused; Oscar could picture the wizard with a smile. The farm boy grumbled to himself and put his regular shirt back on. This was stupid. He didn’t need any winter clothes, right? If Blake was okay in that… crop top of her’s, he would be completely fine in a long sleeve and a long pair of pants. He peeked out of the dressing room to find Qrow scrolling on his… uh... Scroll. **_(How amusing.)_**

  


“Mr. Branwen. It was too big. But thanks for trying! Can we go back now? I imagine you’re probably exhausted-”

  


“Don’t sweat it, kid. We can manage one more store, yeah? We don’t want you freezing in Atlas.” The huntsman said, standing up and ruffling the boy’s head. One more store wouldn’t be so bad, he thought. He could just try on one thing and then they would leave. He didn’t want to bother Qrow any more than he had.

  


**_You’re not bothering him. Trust me - he needs this._ **

  


Oscar didn’t really want to question why. “Of course. If it’s not too much, though.”

  


“I told you not to sweat it, kid. Let’s go.”

  


So, they walked out of the store and walked around, looking for another store. It was still very crowded despite the rapidly setting sun, and Oscar found himself grabbing onto the edge of Qrow’s shirt again as a ‘just in case’. He didn’t want to get lost in the crowd and be an even bigger nuisance than he was already being.

  


Oscar ended up finding nothing at the store, and he hoped that it didn’t disappoint Qrow. He did set out all this way to get him something for colder weather - yet he didn’t find anything.

  


“What’s with the long face, kiddo?” Qrow asked when they were walking down the street. It was dark by this time, and it made Oscar kind of nervous. He wasn’t sure if this was the case for every town, but his Aunt always told him to never stay out when it gets dark. The last time they stayed out until it got dark, they were attacked, Weiss was impaled, and Oscar slept for 3 days in a row.

  


“O-oh, it’s nothing. I’m just thinking.”

  


“Alright… whatever you say kid.”

  


They walked in silence, but it wasn’t the comfortable silence that usually fell between the two. It was more of an awkward, unsure silence. Oscar wanted to fill it, but being the timid person, he was, he just wasn’t good at stuff like this. Even though there was no need, he grabbed onto the edge of Qrow’s shirt like before. Maybe it was just a useless attempt to quell his anxieties? Qrow responded in kind by ruffling his hair, which did quell his worries a little bit.

  


**_You worry more than I do, Oscar. Simmer down for a bit. Nothing bad is going to happen._ **

  


_Easier said than done_ , Oscar shot back in his mind. _The last time I was feeling this anxious was when you forcefully took over my body and I slept for 3 days straight. It wasn’t very fun, you know._

  


**_Oscar, you’re still bothered by that? I told you I was sorry, and I promise I will never do that again. I will always ask for permission beforehand. But that was a life or death situation and I just had to-_ **

  


_Don’t start with that again. I know I was in danger, but I could have handled myself. You told me I needed to fight for myself! I know you promised but I still can’t help but feel… apprehensive. You’re probably keeping so many secrets that you won’t tell-_

  


**_You’re not ready to know those secrets, Oscar!_ **

  


_Yeah. Just how I wasn’t ready for this mess to happen. Yet, here we are._

  


The voice in his head fell silent. Oscar felt a sharp feeling of remorse and agitation in his chest, making him bite back a gasp.

  


“...id. Kid! You’re going to rip my shirt!” Qrow hissed. Oscar immediately let go, his mouth already open for an apology, but Qrow interrupted it with a, “Save it. Let’s keep going. It’s really dark.”

  


The rest of the walk back was horribly awkward. Oscar just played with his handkerchief and Qrow kept on stealing glances at him when he thought he wasn’t looking. Ozpin just offered a single **_I’m sorry_** before going completely mute again and all Oscar could think about was how he wanted to go back home.

  


Qrow went straight to bed once they got home, which was completely unlike him. Everyone else was asleep as well, leaving Oscar alone with his thoughts and a wizard in his head. He needed to apologize to Qrow in some way. Between wasting his time and almost ripping his shirt because of his problems, the huntsman needed a big apology. The problem was, if he apologized on his own, then he would be a stuttering mess and it wouldn’t seem sincere. So, he decided to make Qrow hot chocolate and put it on his nightstand was a small note underneath it… and probably a napkin on top to conserve heat! That’s how it worked, right?

  


So, the farm boy ran into his room, changed into his pajamas, and ran back into the kitchen to begin the process. There was one crucial problem, though. He didn’t even know how to make hot chocolate. He always made coffee his Aunt back at the farm - could this be any different?

  


**_...I could help you._ **

  


Ozpin spoke quietly. Oscar bit his lower lip before letting out a sigh. I’m sorry, he thought.

  


“Yes please.”

  


Oscar wasn’t completely incompetent in the kitchen. He had successfully cooked some things in the past, but that didn’t mean he was an expert. It was kind of simple, really, and he was rather embarrassed about needing help in the first place. He even added a bunch of marshmallows into the cup! The next thing he needed to do was to write a note, grab a napkin and sneak his way into Qrow’s room.

  


**_Try not to scare him. He’s a trained huntsman-_ **

  


“Yeah, yeah. I really don’t feel like getting strangled today.” Oscar murmured. So, the farm boy slipped into the room, placed the two things on the nightstand plus the napkin on top and _booked_ it out of the room. If he couldn’t apologize upfront, he could at least give something back.

  


He climbed into bed and let out a soft sigh, a weird feeling creeping in his throat as he thought of the day’s events. If he wasn’t such a bother, and if he didn’t let his pettiness get in the way, today would’ve been fun. Except he had to let his worries and person problems ruin everything-

  


He couldn’t finish that thought, because the door clicked open and Oscar had to pretend to be asleep. Something was placed on the nightstand and there was a small chuckle. A hand ruffled his hair and then the person spoke. “It felt good to call you son today, kiddo. I’m not sure if you had a dad before you came to Mistral and all, but if you need me to… I’ll support you.” A soft sigh. “Sweet dreams, kiddo.”

  


And for the first time in a while, Oscar let himself cry.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uwu


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is a nightmare and then bonding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me; okay i won't write any angst   
> also me; wriTES THIS  
> okay look im sorry i wanted to write angst but i made up for it with lots of fluff  
> also !! be on the look out for more chapters with oscar bonding with more people on RWBY JN_R because lord knows the farm boy needs more reassurance  
> i apologize if this is shorter but ill have a longer chapter for you next time  
> enjoy owo

Qrow awoke to a horrified, ear-piercing scream that shook him to his very core. He grabbed his weapon and stumbled out of his room, pajamas and all. Nora, Jaune, Yang and Blake were already in the hall, weapons in hand, looking for the source of the scream. The rest of the team joined them shortly, and they all cautiously went around the house to find whatever screamed.

  


Qrow’s heart leapt into his throat when he realized Oscar hadn’t come out of his room and practically tripped his way over to the boy’s door. He was about to kick the damn door down, but soft, stifled sobs stopped him from doing so.

  


Okay. Okay. At least it wasn’t the worst possible thing that could happen. Ruby ran up to him, her eyes wide and panicked.

  


“We don’t know where Oscar is! Maybe he was the one who-” She stopped upon hearing another small sob and looked towards the door, her eyes flashing with understanding. “Oooooh… I’ll tell the others to put their weapons away and go back to sleep.” The huntress resorted to whispering, a look on her face that showed concern.

  


“You’re the best.” Qrow whispered back. “Don’t worry.”

  


“I learned from the best.” Ruby shot back with a wink. She ran off, leaving Qrow to question how he should approach this. He didn’t go in until he heard a bunch of doors close. When he walked in, a small figure was curled up in a ball in the corner of the bed. The figure was shaking like a leaf in the wind, and it made Qrow’s heart go all crazy. He frowned and softly closed the door behind him, opening his mouth to speak.

  


“Oscar.” He spoke softly, making sure his movements weren’t too quick either - like he was approaching a scared animal. Oscar flinched and looked up, and in the darkness, Qrow could make out the tears rolling down his face.

  


“O-oh, gods, Mr. Branwen-”

  


The huntsman sat down next to Oscar, a grim expression on his face. “Do you mind telling me what just happened, kiddo? You gave us a heart attack and a half.” Oscar looked down, his hands gripping the bed sheets. He opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a whine and then another sob.

  


“I-I don’t… I don’t-”

  


“It’s okay, kid! You don’t need to tell me now. It’s okay.” Qrow quickly said, his eyes wide. “You’re safe.” The boy nodded meekly, wiping away his tears with shaking hands and sniffling. He then grimaced (at something Ozpin said, probably), and looked towards Qrow, the most pitiful, kicked-puppy look on his face as he broke down again, causing the adult in the room to scoot over and rub Oscar’s shoulder.

  


“Don’t worry, kid. I got you.” Oscar leaned into his touch as if it was a saving grace to him and shuddered. There were a few beats of silence before Oscar spoke again, his voice soft and so utterly _broken._

  


“I-I had a dream that everyone died that night. At Haven Academy? Everyone died, and I was the only one left and I was trying so hard not to run away but then who I think was Salem stopped me a-and-”

  


“Kid, it’s okay, you don’t have to go on.” Qrow said almost desperately. He didn’t want this kid to work himself up. “I already get the basic idea of the dream - you don’t have to continue. I just need you to take deep breaths for me.” The boy followed what he was told, taking nice, deep breaths as opposed to the gasping ones he was taking before. He then muttered something that Qrow couldn’t hear and leaned to the side a bit, his head falling on Qrow’s shoulder like it did the other night. The huntsman took the opportunity to wrap both of his arms around Oscar in a comforting gesture. This was fine. It was comfortable, and above all, he hoped it made Oscar feel safe.

  


His hopes were proven correct when the farm boy practically melted into his embrace, clutching onto him as well. Oscar curled up against Qrow’s side, and that fuzzy feeling returned to the adult’s chest. He was hit with the overwhelming urge to… protect Oscar. Just like how he always had the urge to protect Ruby and Yang and her friends… it was the same urge except… stronger, somehow? He managed to pull Oscar onto his lap so that his legs were over his lap and the boy was curled up against his chest. Oscar let out a wet chuckle and relaxed a bit, tears still rolling down his face slowly. At least he calmed down a lot. They avoided a huge bullet that Qrow wouldn’t have been able to solve if the bullet hit.

  


Then the door creaked opened slightly, and a voice spoke. “Oh. Ol’ Oz had a nightmare?” It sounded almost sarcastic. Qrow turned his head as Oscar flinched to see Yang, leaning against the wall with an eyebrow raised.

  


“No… Oscar did.” Qrow responded quietly. Yang’s expression softened slightly as she walked over to the pair. Oscar grimaced and whimpered under his breath as Yang knelt in front of him, causing the blonde to frown.

  


“...Hey, short stack. Don’t worry about it. Nightmares happen to the best of us. All we got to do is dust off and move forward; you’re in good hands.” She smiled before looking up at Qrow. “Should I get Ren to help? I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.” The huntsman shook his head, a small chuckle escaping his lips. It was rather odd how Yang was so hostile towards Ozpin, but rather tender towards Oscar. It was odd, but almost cute in a sense.

  


“No, actually. I think I have it all under control. Thank you, though. Get back to sleep, firecracker. It’s always a rough day when you sleep in late.” He joked, and he could feel Oscar giggling a little against him. Yang seemed to notice too, because she pouted and played along.

  


“Ugh. You’re the worst. But fine, I guess I’ll go to bed. Don’t be surprised when I throw an egg at you tomorrow, though. Just holler if you need me.” She shot a smile over her shoulder and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

  


That left just Qrow and Oscar again.

  


The silence that had fallen between the two was comfortable, and the atmosphere whispered _safe._ Oscar let out a soft sigh and curled up against Qrow a bit more, perhaps trying to seek more comfort. The huntsman responded in kind by holding the boy a bit tighter, rather determined to give the boy all the comfort he needed.

  


“...You didn’t have to do this. I’m sorry for waking you up.” Oscar murmured, breaking the silence. Qrow wanted to kick something. This kid was too apologetic for his own good. If he had a shot for every time Oscar said something to apologize, he would not be living at this moment. And that’s saying a lot.

  


“Kid. If you apologize one more time, I’m flipping the table.” He meant it as a joke, but it had the opposite effect of what he wanted because Oscar flinched and murmured something that he couldn’t hear. “I-I mean, what I’m trying to say, is that you shouldn’t apologize. It was nothing. Just, next time, try to come to one of us instead of dealing with it on your own. You can anyone anything. Any one of us would be happy to help you, whether it’s 11 at night or 4 in the morning.” Qrow pinched Oscar’s cheek, who responded with a squeak and a ‘hey!’ “You matter just as much as anyone in this house, okay?”

  


Qrow jumped when he heard small sniffles again, but Oscar was quick to reassure him. “No, no, don’t worry! These are happy tears, I swear!” The brunet said with a laugh. Qrow let out an exasperated sigh before ruffling the other’s already messy hair.

  


“You’re going to be the death of me, kiddo. I’m too young to be having heart attacks.”

  


“Are you sure? You’re greying a tiny bit…” Qrow gawked as Oscar giggled to himself, using his hands to muffle the sound. Instead of saying that he was so happy to see Oscar as himself again (he was too prideful), Qrow began to tickle the poor farm boy, who squealed and tried to squirm away. He rolled off Qrow’s lap and swatted his hands, trying his hardest not to laugh aloud.

  


“S-stop, there are people sleeping, Mr. Branwen-”

  


Qrow smiled and laid down on the bed, looking up at Oscar who was sitting with his legs crossed. “Enough with the ‘Mr. Branwen’ gibberish. It’s Qrow, kid. ‘Mr. Branwen’ makes me feel old.”

  


“Aren’t you already old?” Oscar asked, with an innocent tilt of his head. Qrow huffed, pointing a finger at the boy.

  


“You’re lucky I’m too tired to scold you again. Speaking of which, you should probably get to bed. You must be even more tired than before.” Qrow sat up and watched as Oscar’s smile slowly morphed into a nervous frown. “What is it, kiddo?”

  


Oscar squirmed, avoiding all eye contact possible (it was hard to admit, but Qrow kind of missed the happy Oscar.). “You said I could ask anything, right?”

  


“Yeah, I did.”

  


“...C-can you stay with me tonight? I-I know, it sounds weird, but I don’t… I don’t want to be alone.”

  


Every fiber in Qrow’s being screamed _protect protect,_ so he chuckled lowly and nodded, pretending that it didn’t make his heart skip a beat when Oscar’s face lit up. “Of course, kiddo. It’s okay to be nervous, but you don’t have to be. I’ll be right here with you, yeah?”

  


“Thank you, Mr.- I-I mean, Qrow.”

  


So, the two settled down in bed, Oscar curling up against Qrow as the huntsman hesitantly wrapped his arms around the boy again. Luckily for him, Oscar ate up the hug and snuggled against Qrow. This was comfortable.

  


This was safe.

  


_Safe._

  


(They didn’t know that Yang was still standing behind the door, a small, watery smile on her face.)

  


_________________________________________

  


Qrow let out a soft groan when he woke up, small beams of sunlight filtering through the shades. He slowly sat up and noticed that there was an absence of a small, pure farm boy next to him and the presence of a small note and hot chocolate on the nightstand.

  


_Hello ~~Mr Branwen~~ Qrow,_

  


_I went out for a small walk! I just had to clear my mind and talk to Oz after what happened last night. He was mostly silent, so I just have to make sure he’s okay, you know? I hope you understand. If you need me, I’ll probably be at the pond that we were at before. Oh! And please do me a favor and don’t tell anyone about it! It’ll be our secret place._

  


_I want to thank you again for putting up with me last night. I’m sorry if you were annoyed or something, but I really appreciate it. Neither Oz nor I thought it was a good idea to give you alcohol this early in the morning, so we made you hot chocolate instead! We hope you enjoy it._

 

_Don’t worry about me,_

_Oscar_

  


Qrow had the sudden urge to either cry or laugh, he wasn’t sure, but he finished the hot chocolate, left a note for the kids that he was going out (damn, it was early) and set off (this time walking and not rushing) to find the farm boy. He had a surprise for him, and honestly, he was mildy excited for the first time in a while.

  


(It was only then when he realized that his semblance didn’t kick in the night before.)

  


_(Safe, safe, safe.)_


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is a swimming party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hewwo uwu  
> so uh  
> v6c3 killed me thirteen times, but at the same time, watered my crops and cleared my skin  
> i wrote some of ozpin's lines in this before the 3rd episode, and then when i went back to edit, i nearly cried over a couple of lines from him so haha  
> also !!! i've incorporated a bunch of my headcanons in this chapter, two of them being that oscar is super freckly, and that he has lots of anxiety about everything (in case you guys didn't notice before). i also drew inspiration for the end of this chapter from this tumblr post:
> 
> http://kineticallyanywhere.tumblr.com/post/170601771897/im-not-going-anywhere-with-this-i-just-wanted-it
> 
> i didn't use check document this time lmao so im sorry for any mistakes  
> so uh yeah  
> enjoy 4626 words of pure fluff/light angst at some points

Oscar let out a soft sigh as he dipped his feet into the water of the pond. Nothing yelled ‘home’ like dipping your feet in the cool pond water. In fact, everything about this place reminded Oscar of home - everything from the trees to the small pond to the crispness of the air.

****

The leaves were a nice, green color, with some orange and brown leaves here and there. The wind seemed to blow some leaves off, and sometime, a big gust of wind would come and shower Oscar with leaves. It was beautiful, but…

****

It made him long for his home even more.

****

**_Seems to me like you really miss home._ ** Ozpin murmured in his mind. Oscar scoffed a bit at that.

****

“Really? What gave it away?” He asked sarcastically. He then let out a small sigh, deflating. “I’m sorry. I’m just still… super stressed. I mean, what kind of kid gets a random voice in his head, runs away from home without saying anything, meets up with a bunch of people who don’t necessarily like the voice in his head, and then have said voice in his head take over him and then sleep for 3 days straight was an additional 3 days of recovery and staying in bed and feeling weak and tired-”

****

**_Oscar._ ** The stern voice cut through his rambling.  **_Breathe. Don’t spiral._ ** Oh yeah. Breathing seems important. Oscar took a small, gasping breath in and a shuddering one out, his heart racing. 

****

**_May I? I could help you calm down._ ** Ozpin spoke quietly, and no matter how much Oscar didn’t want him to, he knew it was best for the time being. 

****

“Y-yea, uh, go ahead.” 

****

Handing over the controls was… a difficult, yet curious experience to say the least. Oscar really didn’t know how to describe it, except he could feel everything Ozpin was feeling and read every thought he had. Another thing about handing over the controls was that he felt like his was in… a mental hammock so to say. He was just floating, but there was something keeping him from falling. 

****

(Now that he thought about it, it sounded stupid.)

****

“No, that’s a good analysis of things, Oscar.” Ozpin said, letting out a more secure breath. Oscar could feel his mild surprise at how panicked he was, and that made him feel a bit sheepish. “Don’t be. It’s completely natural to feel how you’re feeling.”

****

_ Yeah, but it’s been… what, a month? I should be over this. _

****

“No, you shouldn’t. This is a great burden, and it takes a while to get used to. You’re still going through new experiences and meeting new people - and you also used to be a farmer. You didn’t really interact with lots of people before, did you?” Ozpin waited for a moment while Oscar fell silence. “Exactly. Don’t degrade yourself because you’re feeling something - like Qrow said last night: you matter as much as anyone in that house. Your emotions are a part of that.” 

****

_...Thanks. _

****

“It’s no problem, really.” A comfortable silence fell between them as they listened to the rustle of the leaves and the chirps of the birds. It was quiet morning - it was also an early one, but it was worth it to have a couple of seconds of peace before having to go back to the house and facing the others. They no doubt heard him last night, so they were obviously going to ask him questions. He felt nervous just thinking about it, but the scenery and the sounds quickly quelled his anxieties.

****

He just had to enjoy this while he could.

****

“...Would you like to switch back, Oscar? I’d imagine everything is okay now. It’s also not good to give me control for too long - we don’t know how much energy we have to keep this up for long.”

****

_...Yeah, I guess. Thanks, Ozpin. _

****

“My pleasure.”

****

Getting back in control was like… someone snapping you out of a daydream. Quick, surreal and rather jarring for a couple of seconds. However, lucky for him, he seemed to adapt quickly to his fast change. The first time he relinquished control to Ozpin, when he got switched back again, he literally toppled over with a yelp and nearly gave Qrow a heart attack.

****

(But he’s too young to have heart attacks, a small part of his mind said.)

****

**_He’s too old to be saying that._ **

****

Oscar snorted a bit, using his hand to cover his mouth. Despite being, like, a million years old, he could still be funny.

****

**_A million years of experience could bring many jokes and quips, Oscar. This is wisdom that has been passed down for generations._ **

****

Oscar rolled his eyes playfully, a smile on his face. How sarcastic. “Yes, ancient wisdom that is not known to most, but I have the honor of knowing it. I also have the honor from learning it from the best.” 

****

**_Indeed._ **

****

“Y’know, kid, if someone caught you out here talking to yourself like that, you’d be labeled as crazy.” The new voice made him jump and almost fall into the pond, but luckily, he managed to place the voice before getting himself soaked.

****

“O-oh! Mr- I mean, Qrow! I didn’t… I didn’t think you would be up this early.” The brunet said, turning around with a shy smile on his face.

****

“I could say the same for you, pipsqueak.” Qrow sat down next to him. “I reckon you’re going to come here as often as you can before we leave for Atlas, huh?” Oscar nodded, wiggling his toes in the water.

****

“Yeah… it’s a nice comfort to have. If I’d had known about it sooner, I would’ve came here everyday… but better late than never, I guess.”

****

“Right you are, kiddo.” Qrow gave a small chuckle before speaking again, this time his face more somber. “You good? You had it pretty rough last night.”

****

A sharp feeling of panic began to rise in Oscar’s throat just from hearing someone address it out loud, but after a soft and encouraging  **_breathe_ ** from Ozpin, he took a deep breath and spoke.

****

“U-uh, yeah. I’d… uh, rather you not mention it, if that’s okay.” He murmured. Qrow raised an eyebrow, but nodded shortly after in understanding. 

****

“Of course it’s okay - I won’t.” The huntsman replied, glancing at Oscar with a lopsided smile. Honestly? This made Oscar feel so appreciated that he almost tackled Qrow in a hug, but then he realized that Qrow might not appreciate that too much, so he didn’t.

****

“So… um, did you need anything? I-I’m not saying that I don’t enjoy your company or anything, no way! Because I do enjoy your company. A lot. You just look like you have something to say, you know?” Oscar cut himself off before he could go on, his cheeks burning. Ozpin gave a soft chuckle, and the farm boy could feel him smiling in amusement. 

****

“...Well, there’s this pond at the edge of town. It’s much bigger than this one, and when I asked around, it was revealed that you could actually swim in it. So, when the other kids wake up, I was thinking maybe we could all go there; one last thing to do before we go to Atlas, right?” Qrow picked up a nearby rock and skipped it across the lake as he spoke. It skipped twice before sinking, making the male frown slightly. He then looked back as Oscar. “So?”

****

“O-oh! Qrow, I would actually like to! It sounds fun. But… I’m afraid I don’t really know how to swim, and I also don’t have any swimming clothes, so…”

****

“I know. Nobody has any swimming clothes. So, when we went shopping that one day, I snuck around while you were trying on that oversized sweater and got a bunch of swimming clothes in a bunch of sizes for all the kids. Then I paid when you were changing out. And don’t worry about the swimming thing- this is more of like a team bonding exercise, because the gods know we need it. You can practically feel the tension between a lot of people.”

****

That’s probably my fault, Oscar thought with a soft sigh, to which Ozpin replied  **_no, the fault is all mine._ **

****

“...What time would we be leaving?”

****

“Once everyone wakes up. We could just wait for them at the house, yeah?” Qrow smirked, leaning over and ruffling the boy’s hair. “We’re going to have a jam-packed day.” 

****

“Sounds fun.” Oscar patted his hair down, suppressing a giggle. “Should we get back to the house now? I’m actually kind of hungry.”

****

(The face Qrow made upon hearing that he hadn’t eaten before was half funny, half scary.)

****

_________________________________________________________________

****

“Hurry up! The pond isn’t gonna swim in itself!” Nora charged forward, pulling Ren along as the group followed Qrow down the trail. 

****

“I’m not sure if that made any sense, Nora-” Poor Ren tried to speak, but he was yanked forward and immediately shut up. Jaune laughed and ran forward to help his teammate, and Team RWBY spoke amongst themselves excitedly as the two faunus (was it okay to call them that? He forgot their names. He hoped it was okay.) talked to one another on the side. Oscar watched all of this from the back with a small smile on his face. He was never really a talker in the first place, so hearing all these voices around him comforted him somewhat. He wasn’t alone. 

****

Granted, he was never alone, but he didn’t pay attention to that.

****

He hummed as he walked, making sure the shirt that Qrow gave him covered him up enough. He really didn’t want everyone to see his abundance of freckles, so he was going to keep the shirt on for as long as he possibly could. 

****

**_Pay attention. You are walking a bit too fast, and at this rate, you’ll bump into Miss Xiao Long._ **

****

Oscar stopped in his tracks because  _ woah he did not want to bump into the blonde _ . She scared him to death; just another addition to the things he was afraid of. Ozpin chuckled, causing Oscar to scowl.  **_Miss Xiao Long won’t harm you, Oscar. She can be temperamental, but she won’t harm anyone who she doesn’t have a reason to harm._ **

****

“Yeah but… she can just turn and yell at me at any given moment and I wouldn’t like that to happen.” The farm boy mumbled, wrapped his arms around himself and squeezing the edges of his sleeves. 

****

“Oscar! Why’d you stop?” Ruby had the most high pitched voice, so Oscar knew straight away that it was her. He stopped thinking so hard (was that even a thing??) and looked up to find everyone staring at him. His cheeks turned red as he laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

****

“O-oh! I just got lost in t-thought, is all. Don’t mind me! I’ll catch up with you guys in a second!” He rambled. He just needed a couple of seconds to recuperate and then he would follow. Despite Ruby’s protests and Qrow’s weird looks, the group pressed on, leaving Oscar alone.

****

Well… not exactly alone.

****

**_Is everything alright, Oscar?_ **

****

“I don’t know if I can do this.” Oscar murmured, stumbling to the side and leaning against a nearby tree. He felt sick and dizzy. Why was it always when he was about to have fun for once, his stupid mind stops him? Why was he even freaking out? 

****

**_Of course you can, Oscar. Don’t let your own fears get in the way of doing what you want to-_ **

****

“I know. I know, okay? I’m trying not to but they keep crawling back and I don’t really appreciate it!” The brunet exclaimed. 

****

**_You can do this. It’s perfectly okay to feel nervous. I understand that they’re people you don’t exactly know too well, but that’s okay as well. You need close friends on this journey, Oscar. They can provide you with the company you’ve needed._ **

****

Oscar nodded to himself, puffing his chest out and taking a deep breath. Okay. He just needs to go and have fun! He can’t worry about anything - worrying would only mess up the nice surprise that Qrow put together for them. 

****

**_Ready to begin walking, Oscar?_ **

****

“...Yeah. I’m ready.” 

****

So, with newfound courage, he sped down the trail, making sure to fix his shirt every now and then when the sleeves rolled up slightly. He finally made it to the pond, where everyone, except for Qrow, was splashing in the water, laughing and looking happier than he had ever seen them. Qrow turned around and smiled at the farm boy; he also looked more relaxed than he’d ever seen.

****

“Nice of you to join us, shortie. Come sit by the water with me and watch the others wrestle with one another. It’s actually very, very funny.” He said with a chuckle. A warm feeling blossomed in Oscar’s chest as he sat down next to Qrow, directing his attention to whatever the others were doing. 

****

**_Oh my._ **

****

Nora was on Ren’s shoulders and Ruby was on Jaune’s shoulders, and they seemed to be swatting at each other, and all this happened while Yang and Sun (oh that was his name) chanted ‘fight, fight, fight, fight!’ and Blake, Ilia (another name he remembered - good job, Oscar!)  and Weiss engaged in a conversation in the shallow part of the pond. Oscar found himself smiling, giggling whenever something funny happened and wincing when Ruby hit the water with a ‘thwack!’ 

****

“I’m okay!” She had announced once coming back up, and Yang had fallen over laughing. Oscar was kind of upset that he couldn’t join them in the water, but it was nice to watch it unfold. Like he mentioned before, he was more of a listener, not a speaker.

****

Hearing other people speak kept him grounded and calm - that’s how he always felt around people. 

****

“Hey, Oscar! Why don’t you come in the water! It’s super nice!” Nora called, waving her arms. Ren stumbled a bit, but managed to keep his balance as he grinned, clearly amused. Oscar recoiled into himself a bit, a nervous laugh escaping his lips.

****

“I-I’m afraid I can’t swim that well, so I can’t really join you in the water-”

****

“Oh come on, farm boy!” Yang yelled. “You can come hang with us in the shallow end and watch everyone fight! It won’t be that bad, and no one will drown.”

****

“We’re having a very interesting conversation about nature.” Blake added, her smile getting bigger when Yang snickered behind her mouth. 

****

“And! We could always teach you how to swim! It’s easy as pie!” Sun piped up, his tail swinging back and forth with excitement. Oscar started to get up, but stopped when he realized that he probably had to take his shirt off. Wet clothes that stuck to him always made him extremely uncomfortable, but…

****

Eh. When would he ever have the chance to do this again? 

****

“A-alright. J-just… please don’t stare.” 

****

He was met with a bunch of coos and a squeal when he set his shirt to the side (yes, he folded it.). Dozens and dozens of freckles littered his neck, shoulders and arms. He was actually really embarrassed about them, but if he was going to be traveling with these people for the rest of his journey, they might as well know one thing about him. 

****

“Oh. My. Gods! He’s like a chocolate chip cookie!” Ruby exclaimed, her eyes bright. “That’s so adorable~!!” And oh gods here come the red cheeks.

****

“I-It’s really nothing special.” Oscar said, slowly stepping into the pond. He sat down, the water reaching up to the middle of his shoulders. “You guys can go back to… whatever you were doing. Is there another… fight scheduled or something?”

****

The moment Nora and Yang looked at each other, he knew that something was about to go down.

****

The next thing Oscar knew, he was sitting on Jaune’s shoulders while Ruby was sitting on Yang’s, and everyone was chanting ‘fight, fight, fight!’ He looked towards Qrow for help, but the huntsman just shrugged and took a sip from his flask. 

****

**_I’m guessing you’ll have to fight Miss Rose, Oscar. May I suggest going easy on her?_ **

****

_ I don’t even know how to do this! How can I possibly go easy on her? _

****

“I hope you’re ready to lose, boys.” Yang said while Ruby stuck her tongue out. “Ruby and I got this in the bag.” 

****

“Boys are definitely the superior species,” Jaune shot back with a cocky smirk. “Right, Oscar?” 

****

“U-uh…” Oscar got a warning glare from the two sisters. “On the contrary, I think both genders are amazing… but for the sake of this battle, I’ll have to say that boys are superior!” Sun cheered and splashed water as Ren slow clapped, and honestly? That felt really empowering.

****

“Wrong words, Oscar! Hya!” Yang inched closer and Ruby began to swat at Oscar. Oscar flinched back and put his hand out to stop her from slapping him, but then Ruby just ended up high fiving him.

****

“Boo! Oscar! Fight like a real man!” Nora yelled from the sides, throwing water over the four participants. Oscar pushed his hands out enough to start swatting, so Ruby began swatting back. It was like this for a while, and with the other people screaming encouraging things, he thought he might actually win.

****

Then Ruby pushed forward, and he fell back into the water.

****

He giggled to himself as he fell, but when he was underwater, Ozpin called his name and he snapped out of it because _he. Couldn’t. Swim._

****

Forgot about that one little detail, didn’t you, Oscar? 

****

And this was the deep end.

****

He should’ve thought this out.

****

**_OSCAR!_ ** ****_  
  
_

Before Oscar could go into full panic mode and start flailing around, a pair of arms grabbed him and hoisted him up, and he could grab a gulp of air.

****

“Oscar! Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry!” Ruby exclaimed, climbing down from Yang’s shoulders. It took him a second to process what really just happened and what was happening right now. Jaune was holding him - well, Oscar was clinging to him in return - and Ruby and Yang were trying to make sure he was okay. “Are you okay? I forgot you couldn’t swim! I thought you would just pop up and do that cute pouty thing you always do!” The silver-eyed girl rambled, checking Oscar up and down. 

****

“...w-wait, no, don’t worry!” Oscar was quick to reply. “Can we just… uh… get back to somewhere I can stand?”

****

“Of course! Of course! Let’s go to a non-drowning zone, people!” Yang dragged Ruby to the shallow end while Jaune had to carry Oscar. It was really embarrassing, but he’d rather be embarrassed than drown. That was terrifying.

****

Jaune set Oscar down so that he was sitting, checked the child over over, let out a sigh of relief and went back to the group.

****

“Alright - that’s enough duels for today. What if we play two lies, one truth! That seems safer.” Nora piped up, making little splashes in the water with her feet. “I’ll go first to get it going! And for the people who probably don’t know how the play!” She made it a point to look directly at Oscar, who cleared his throat nervously. “Okay… uh, I had a happy childhood, thunderstorm-y is my favorite kind of weather, and my favorite weapon in this entire group is a stick!” 

****

Blake raised her hand and smiled lopsidedly. “The truth is that you like thunderstorms - the other two are lies. Morbid, but true.”

****

“Ding, ding, ding!” Nora clapped, her grin rivaling the sun. It went like this for a while - Weiss’ truth was that she missed everyone, Sun’s truth was that he thought his tail was his best trait, and Jaune’s truth was that he thought he was getting better. Then Nora’s eyes landed on him and she smirked. “Hmm… oi, little cute-boy-Oscar! Why don’t you go next?” 

****

This was all happening way too fast for his liking, but Oscar sucked up his feelings (since when didn’t he) and spoke, hesitating everytime he told a lie. “U-uh… I-I, uh, like my freckles… I really want to get to know all you guys better… and I’m not nervous all the time.” He finally said.

****

**_Rather depressing, no?_ **

****

_ Be quiet, I’m trying. _

****

“Hmm…” Ren looked like he was thinking for a moment and then he guessed. “Your truth is that… you want to get to know us all better.” Oscar nodded, a shy smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

****

“Yup. You’re right.”

****

“Well, thank the gods we’re doing this right now! We’re all getting to know each other a bit more.” Ruby piped up, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. “Can I go next? I have a good one!” 

****

After many more rounds of the game, the group collectively decided to go relax in the deep end and talk about weapons and other huntsman related stuff. Oscar was about to excuse himself, but Sun waddled to him excitedly and asked if he would like to get on his back so that he could be a part of the conversation too. 

****

So that’s how Oscar ended up clinging to Sun’s back as the faunus swam over to the group of huntsman and huntresses in - training.

****

Everyone could stand in this deep end, but Oscar was so much shorter than the rest of them that he couldn’t touch the ground, even if he tried. He wasn’t too nervous, though. A long as he stayed on Sun’s back, he would be fine, right? Hopefully he would be fine.

****

**_You’ll be fine._ **

****

He zoned out halfway through their conversation about dust. It was interesting, yeah, but just not his cup of tea. Oscar was more into the behind-the-scenes of how the weapons worked and the different parts and their functions. Dust was just… not as interesting to him. He focused on how the water moved around his leg, and how when he moved it slightly the water rippled around it. Funny - it was kind of like the… Fall of Beacon (he almost flinched in unison with Ozpin when he thought that, but he couldn’t grasp onto his thoughts in time before they took off running). That one event happened, and it sent ripples and ripples of different events throughout the kingdoms - most of them weren’t good obviously, but it was funny how much one event can impact the entire world. It was sad, too. The kingdoms can’t handle another fall - that’s why it was so important that they stopped the White Fang and Salem’s followers at Haven. It would’ve been a disaster.

****

_ Why are you thinking about this? Isn’t this supposed to be a worry-free zone? _

****

Oscar jolted back to attention when Nora let out a joyous yelp. It was beginning to rain, the raindrops making the water ripple in multiple different places at the same time. Before Oscar could have a panic attack with his thoughts sprinting away from him, Sun swam to the shallow end and set Oscar down, ruffling his hair after he set the boy down. 

****

“Go get a towel, buddy. We don’t need you getting sick and sleeping for another 3 days.” He said with a cheery smile. Despite himself, Oscar laughed and got up, holding his arms up to shield himself from the rain (although he didn’t know why - he was already wet.).

****

“Had fun, kiddo?” Qrow asked from under his tree, already holding out a towel for Oscar to take. The brunet smile gratefully and took the towel, wasting no time in wrapping it around his shaking shoulders. 

****

“Yeah. A lot of fun. Thank you for letting us come here for the day, Qrow.” He sat down next to the huntsman, curling up in his towel.

****

“...it’s really no problem. I’m glad you liked it.” Qrow replied. Oscar hesitantly leaned against him, and when Qrow showed no signs of objection, he let himself relax. “You’re lucky I’ve taken a liking to you, kid. I would never let any other wet farm boy lean against me.”

****

“Lucky me - I’m the only wet farm boy you know.” Oscar murmured. He watched as Nora splashed around in the water as the rest of the huntsman and huntresses in training got out of the pond and headed towards their towels.

****

It was a hassle, but once they got Nora out, the group began to head home, jogging down the trail that they had walked.

****

After multiple slips in the mud, dropping of towels and laughing, they eventually managed to make it home. The girls got to shower first (‘ladies first’, Sun had said to Blake in an attempt to be suave. He just got an eye roll and a slammed door in his face.), so Oscar decided to sneak into the kitchen to make everyone hot chocolate. He hummed as he heated up the milk and got the chocolate mix out; he felt peaceful in this moment - way more peaceful than usual. He could get used to this feeling.

****

**_I’m glad you’re feeling better, Oscar._ **

****

_...me too. _

****

He left the cups of hot chocolate on the table for everyone and left the kitchen, planning to just take a shower and head to bed. 

****

For the first time since he got here, he didn’t have a thought spiral in the shower.

****

For the first time since he got here, he got a ‘goodnight’ from everyone. 

****

And for the first time since he got here, he fell asleep peacefully.

****

…

****

But of course, as all things go, he woke up later, feeling drowsy and felt as if he were about to have a panic attack. Gulping, Oscar got out of his bed and stumbled towards the door, trying to shake off the drowsiness and panic. He heard some yelling and laughing from outside his door, so maybe he could go and sit with whoever was up outside. That would wake him up and make him feel safe, right? He didn’t feel safe. This would make him feel safe. 

****

Hopefully.

****

With Ozpin still sleeping (wasn’t it twisted how Oscar could be awake and Ozpin couldn’t), Oscar stepped out into the hallway, his mind weirdly silent. He knew Ozpin was sleeping, but his mind couldn’t help but go into overdrive. In his drowsy panic, he decided to whisper the wizard’s name, but before he could do that, he was scooped up by someone in a bridal carry, causing him to yelp.

****

“Relax, short stack. It’s me.” Qrow snickered, and now that he knew it was Qrow, Oscar allowed himself to relax. He actually began to drift off as Qrow walked, feeling safe in the huntsman’s arms, but it was short lived when Qrow exclaimed ‘guess who’s with us!’ 

****

A chorus of “Oscar!” filled the farm boy’s ears and he mumbled a small ‘hi’, squinting from the bright light. Qrow set him down on the couch next to Ren as he tiredly mumbled ‘I’m a wizard, Auntie’, which caused the group to burst into laughter.

****

“Hell yeah you are, kiddo.” Qrow walked around and sat down on the floor, taking a swig of alcohol. Yawning, Oscar slowly leaned on Ren, his eyes closing as he curled up against the ninja-like male. Ren chuckled and wrapped his arm around the boy, his other hand coming up to ruffle his hair. 

****

_ This is safe.  _

****

Oscar wasn’t even paying attention to what they were saying half the time. He enjoyed the company that they provided, he relished in the sound of their laughter, and he smiled at the sound of their conversation. Things were getting better bit by bit, so it seemed.

****

_ Safe, safe, safe. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> owo


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is bonding over books

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im weak hi  
> i pumped out two things in one day so i'll be out of it for a bit   
> but anyway !! im sorry this is so short, but i promise ill have a longer chapter next time !  
> get ready for some JNR bonding next chapter owo  
> also i didnt proofread this one its late leave me alone

Blake’s ears twitched as she heard a door open and close. She sat up from her bed, a small frown tugging at the corners of her lips. It would’ve been fine if it were any other time in the day, however, it was currently 3 in the morning.

 

What was she doing up, you ask? Reading. She had found a book that she hadn’t read in a while, and she couldn’t really stop reading it. She hadn’t realized she had gotten carried away until 15 minutes ago, however she told herself she would finish the chapter and then head to bed. 

 

Thank goodness Yang was a heavy sleeper. 

 

Nevertheless, all good things must come to an end, and she had to find out who - or what - just opened and closed a door. The faunus slipped out of bed and made sure to be quiet when exiting the room.

 

Weird - the light in the kitchen was on.

 

It was probably Qrow, the tired part of her mind thought. Just go back and go to bed.

 

Blake frowned and decided to investigate even more. Qrow had heavier, stompy-er footsteps. These footsteps were almost… nonexistent. Light. It could be Ilia, she reasoned, but if it was Ilia Blake had to see what she was up to. Maybe she needed support. 

 

Biting her lip, Blake peeked out from behind the wall and saw no other than Oscar, scrubbing at his face and trying to reach for something in a cabinet. He grumbled in frustration and jumped onto the counter to get the object he was reaching for. Then he managed to get whatever he wanted and hopped down from the counter. In his hands was a box of chocolate powder. 

 

Oh. The child only wanted some hot chocolate. 

 

Blake would’ve left this alone, but his eyes were red and puffy as if he had been crying. Her ears drooped slightly as she frowned. She watched as he murmured something and got some milk out of the fridge (she ignored the can of tuna mmm how delicious) and poured it in a cup. 

 

If she wanted to approach - which, she did - she would have to walk in all casually like she just woke up. Blake mussed up her hair slightly and forced herself to yawn. Hopefully that would give her the sleepy look. 

 

“...Oscar?” She asked, walking into the kitchen with a raised eyebrow. Oscar jumped and turned to her, nearly dropping his chocolate powder in the process. 

 

“O-oh! Miss Blake! What are you doing up so late?” He asked, relaxing once he realized who it was. Blake chuckled, taking a small step forward. 

 

“I could be asking you the same question.”

 

“Yeah, but… I asked first.” Oscar said with a slight pout. Blake smiled lopsidedly and leaned against the counter. 

 

“I got carried away with reading.” She replied, rubbing the back of her neck. “Now you answer.” Oscar hesitated for a moment before speaking, reaching over for the chocolate mix.

 

“I just uh… woke up. I wake up in the middle of the night a lot, so I usually make hot chocolate for myself. Do you want some?” Blake frowned at his excuse - because let’s face it, that was a horrible excuse - but had to refrain herself from jumping on the opportunity to have milk. She pretended to cough into her hand and nodded, which made Oscar smile. 

 

Two microwaved hot chocolates later, Blake found herself sitting at the table with the smaller boy. “...Hey, Miss Blake? What was your book about?” Oscar asked, taking a sip of his drink shortly after asking the question. 

 

“Well… it’s an old book that I haven’t read in a bit. It’s about a man with two souls… fighting for control of the body.” She replied. She jumped when Oscar’s eyes widened and he began choking on his hot chocolate. Blake leaned over the table to pat his back, but the freckled boy flinched away and put up a finger. She patiently waited until he stopped coughing and then raised a confused eyebrow. 

 

“...Are you okay, Oscar?” She asked, putting down her mug and frowning. Oscar nodded in reply, tapping his chest with his fist. 

 

“Y-yeah, I’m fine! It just went down the wrong way, you know? It happens all the time - hehe, silly me!” He said a bit too loudly. Blake shushed him, and he looked down sheepishly. There was only silence for a couple of more moments, and in this silence Blake realized why he had such a reaction to that story summary. She groaned quietly and put her hands in her face. 

 

“...U-um? Miss Blake? Are you okay?” A timid voice asked. Blake let out a huff and uncovered her face, her cheeks flushed with remorse. She wanted to say something along the lines of ‘I forgot’ or ‘I’m sorry’, or ‘I didn’t mean anything bad’, but it just came out one jumble of words. Oscar, who was looking nervous before, let out a soft giggle, using his mug to cover the smile on his face. Blake smiled, at least happy that she could put a smile on the boy’s face.

 

“When you’re done… can I please read it?” Oscar asked, tucking a strand of his hair behind his ear. “I’ve read a lot of books, and I don’t believe I’ve read that one before.” The female faunus perked up, her eyes lighting up. 

 

“You… you read? What books have you read?” She asked, and the way Oscar’s face just lit up made her heart flutter. She bit back a coo as Oscar rubbed the back of his neck and began to shyly explain what books he had read. He had actually read a lot of the books that Blake had read before. 

 

“There was this one book I read that I really liked… it was about a girl who left clues for her friends to find her, and they found her, but it was like, a bittersweet love story. I forget the name of it, but I just remember… crying when I read it.” Oscar said at one point sheepishly, prompting Blake to giggle.

 

“I haven’t read anything like that before, but… if you ever remember the name, please tell me. It sounds like a really great book.” She replied as Oscar nodded. She took another sip from her hot chocolate, only to frown when she realized that there was none left. She rolled her eyes playfully when Oscar began to snicker. Blake moved to get up to get some more hot chocolate, but stopped when Yang appeared in the doorway, yawning and stretching. 

 

“Blake…? It’s so late why are you-” Her eyes narrowed when she saw Oscar, and the boy seemed to shrink under her gaze. Her expression then softened and she smiled, a low laugh escaping her lips.

 

“Don’t worry, Oscar. I’m just checking who was in control, that’s all. I’m just messing with you, buddy.” Yang said, leaning over and ruffling his hair. Blake smiled as Oscar pouted, fixing his hair after she moved her hand. Yang moved and sat next to Blake, leaning against the table. 

 

“What are you two doing up so late? It’s almost 4, and you know Qrow wants to do a  _ little _ training session tomorrow morning.” The blonde said, rolling her eyes and putting emphasis on ‘little’. “It’s to get our stamina back up or something like that - I dunno.” She shrugged. “I’d imagine you guys would like to go to sleep now.”

 

“What about you? Why are you up?” Oscar questioned, gripping onto his mug a bit too tightly. Yang raised an amused eyebrow.

 

“Well, when there’s giggling and discussion about books and whatnot, I think it’s hard not to wake up.” Even in the dark, both the faunus and the farm boy’s faces were visibly red. Yang stifled her laughs, clasping her hand over her mouth. “I-It’s fine,” she said once she stopped laughing. “It’s funny seeing how excited you two get over books. Honestly, I get more excited about fixing Bumblebee.” She shrugged. Blake looked over at Oscar, who’s eyes seemed to light up at the mention of the motorcycle. If she had to make a guess, he was most likely interested in mechanics as well. 

 

Blake yawned, her ears drooping slightly. She wanted to stay up and talk to the farm boy a bit more, but she knew she needed her rest. Using the table, she pushed herself up and stretched, groaning under her breath as she did so.

 

“I’d like to not pass out from exhaustion tomorrow during training, and if it’s okay,” She didn’t miss Oscar’s slight wince. “I’d like to go to sleep now. We can continue this conversation over dinner, Oscar.” She said with a lopsided grin. Oscar smiled timidly back, rubbing his thumb against the handle of his cup. 

 

“I’d like that too, Miss Blake. Thank you.” He replied, nodding. A warm, fuzzy feeling blossomed in her chest as her grin became a fond smile. Yang stood up as well, tapping her foot. 

 

“Can we get to bed now? I look this flawless because I get my beauty sleep all the time, and if I don’t go to sleep right now, you’ll be screaming ‘holy shhhhhhhhhhoot, who is that gremlin that just came out of that room over there?’” The freckled boy giggled, standing up and playing with the hem of his shirt. Yang looked proud of being able to make the boy laugh, and she also looked proud that she caught herself before she swore. 

 

“Goodnight, Oscar.” Blake called over her shoulder as she walked out of the kitchen. She wasn’t sure if she should go and make sure Oscar got to bed, but Yang dragged her along before she could say anything.

 

Yang closed the door behind her as Blake got into bed, and she relished in the feel of the warm blanket and the softness of the pillow. She was drifting off when Yang’s soft voice rang in the silence.

 

“...He’s a good kid, isn’t he?” She said almost wistfully. Blake could hear her shifting in her blankets. 

 

“Yeah… he really is.” Blake murmured in reply. She swore she could hear Yang mutter under her breath, ‘it’s such a shame, though…’ before stopping her train of thought. Deciding she would like her sleep much more, Blake made a mental note to ask Yang about that tomorrow and slowly drifted off to sleep.

 

______________________________________________________________________

 

Blake walked into the kitchen that morning to join everyone else for training, yawning. She was woken up about 4 hours later, so she was now regretting staying up that late for a book.

 

Then again, she got to get to know the farm boy a bit better, so maybe she didn’t regret it too much after all. 

 

When she entered the kitchen, Nora popped in front of her out of nowhere and put a finger over her mouth, then pointed to the couch. Blake nodded and then frowned, her ears twitching slightly. Who was on the couch?

 

She moved around Nora and saw that Oscar was curled up against the arm of the couch, a pencil clutched in his hands and a piece of paper on the floor in front of him. When Blake looked to Nora, the orange-haired female just shrugged, put a finger over her mouth again and zoomed off before Blake could say ‘tuna’. Blake, being as stealthy as possible, knelt in front of the couch and picked up the piece of paper.

 

There were a bunch of crossed out words on the paper, small frowny faces in the corner and a small doodle of a girl and a boy holding hands in the corner, captioned ‘Q and Margo.’ 

 

At the bottom of the page, there were giant, capitalized words that read, “Paper Towns!!!” with an abundance of exclamation marks, a lot of smiley faces and a big circle around it all. There was a small ‘Tell Miss Blake tomorrow!’ on the bottom corner, and Blake could feel herself smiling brightly. 

 

What a good kid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i did it


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is bonding with JNR

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me ; yeah im taking a break from writing for a bit  
> also me ; writes this in an hour and a half while crying to to the moon
> 
> im really liking this 'oscar sings' headcanon so im sorry  
> aND JUST IMAGINE THERE'S A TV IN THE LIVING ROOM I KNOW THERE ISN'T BUT JUST PRETEND THERE IS   
> so yeah enjoy

Nora took a sip of her energy drink, letting out a loud groan. The house was quiet and still, and if she had to look at these walls for 1 more day, she was going to lose it. Her teammates were in their rooms, talking about some ‘boy stuff’ (what exactly did they mean by ‘boy stuff’???) and Team RWBY plus Qrow were in town to get some dust because they ran out (for some reason? How could they run out of dust?), and Sun and Ilia were down at Haven helping with some damage control.

  


Frankly, Nora had enough. She wanted to get out and do something! Stretch her legs! Run around! Use her semblance or something!

  


Too bad it was only raining and not thunder storming.

  


It was odd. It hadn’t stopped raining since the pond, and even though a little rain wasn’t going to stop Nora, she was held back by Ren, who insisted on her staying in because she could catch a cold. Huffing with her cheeks turning pink, Nora put her drink back in the fridge and flopped onto the couch.

  


Maybe she should go swing around Magnhild in the training room downstairs. That was always a win. Getting out energy and learning how to control and hold her weapon better would come in handy later, obviously. Stretching like a cat, Nora got up from the couch and, like, ran down the stairs, determined to keep the walls blurred because she was so bored of looking at them.

  


However, she stopped in her tracks when she heard a… a soft voice coming from the downstairs room. Ren doesn’t have that high-pitched of a voice, and Jaune sang with too many voice cracks. So that could only leave her with…

  


Oh gods. She bit back a groan. She totally forgot Oscar was here! Not that he was forgettable or anything - it was just that he was as quiet as a mouse all the time. She hardly even heard from him from time to time; there were days she didn’t even know he was there.

  


Anyway-

  


Nora calmed herself (because the pure farm boy was singing, and it sounded good!) and listened to what he was singing.

  


_I don’t know much about your life beyond these walls…_

  


_A fleeting sense of love within these godforsaken halls-_

  


_And I can hear it in his voice in every call…_

  


_This girl who’s slept a hundred years has something after all…_

  


He paused for what Nora assumed was a breath, and even though she couldn’t see him, she could practically hear the soft smile in his voice.

  


_And though I know… since you’ve awakened her again,_

  


_She depends on you._

  


_She depends on you-_

  


_I’ll go alone._

  


He paused again, and Nora allowed herself to let out a small breath. There was a small moment of silence before the boy started up again, the smile in his voice gone.

  


_And… never speak of you again._

  


_We depend on you,_

  


_I’ll depend…_

  


_...On you._

  


Nora assumed that was the end of the song, and she peeked out from behind the wall to find the boy standing in the middle of the room, mumbling to himself quietly.

  


“...I know, I know. I should probably get back to training. Yes, I know, I have to build up stamina. Yes, I know-” Oscar made eye contact with Nora, who decided to shamelessly stand in the doorway with a smirk on her face. His face went cherry red as he coughed into his fist.

  


“...Um, Miss Nora-”

  


“That’s Nora to you, squirt. Miss Nora makes me feel older.” She cut him off with a huff.

  


“...R-right. Um, did you hear that?” He asked timidly, prompting Nora to laugh. She approached him and pinched his cheeks, causing the boy to squeak and squirm away.

  


“You’re so adorable! And you have such an amazing singing voice! You could be, like, famous if it weren’t for… all of this.” Nora gestured greatly with her hands, her eyes bright and her smile brighter. Oscar laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck and looking down.

  


“W-with all due respect, Nora, I don’t think I would be famous. I would still be home at the farm with auntie and working every morning and being a… a normal kid!” He perked up, smiling bitterly. “But hey - I have no control over things anymore.” Nora frowned slightly, her cheeks puffing out in a pout.

  


“Come on, Ozzy boy! Lighten up! You got to meet me, and all the others, and now you have a stand-in father!” She exclaimed. Oscar’s eyes widened as he tried to stutter something out, but Nora interrupted him again. “Yeah, Qrow is like a father to you, and a drunkle to all of us. You have company here! We won’t abandon you or anything. Don’t worry about a thing, alright Oscar? We have your back!”

  


The freckled child looked as if he were about to cry, but he grinned instead, looking happier than Nora had ever seen him. “Well… thank you. I trust all of you guys… I just don’t trust myself. But hearing that really reassures me, so thank you.” Nora grabbed him in a head lock and noogied him, laughing as she did so.

  


“You’re welcome, little farm boy.” She then gasped, an idea forming. “Why don’t you join the talk that Ren and Jaune are having! They said it was boy talk and then kicked me out of the room - which was very insulting by the way - but you can join because you’re a boy!” Oscar shook his head as best as he could and weaseled his way out of Nora’s grasp.

  


“Well, I mean, if they’re having a talk, that must mean it’s super important, right? So, uh... Why don’t you stay here and train with me instead until they’re finished?” Oscar asked quickly, tugging at his gloves.

  


Well… that was what she came down here to do, was it not?

  


“...Alright, Oscar! I’ll train with you. Just don’t complain when I kick your butt in the first 5 minutes.”

  


She immediately apologized when Oscar’s face went as white as a piece of paper.

  


___________________________________________________________________

  


One sweat, and exhausting training session later, the two sat in the kitchen, downing glasses of water. Oscar hopped onto the counter and wiped his brow, letting out a small puff of air.

  


“Wow… I didn’t think I would be able to keep up with you.” He breathed, gulping down water after. Nora laughed, doing the same.

  


“Trust me, squirt, I didn’t think you would be able to either - I’m impressed!” She stretched out her arms and let out a loud sigh. “I can’t wait to be doing that for real _outside_ of the house.”

  


“You’re sick of this house too, huh?” Oscar looked down at his cup before looking back up at the orange-haired female. When she nodded, the boy giggled, his nose scrunching up slightly. Nora bit back a coo and smiled, happy that the distant, sad look in his eyes was gone.

  


She was about to say something else, but a door clicked open and Ren and Jaune walked into the kitchen shortly after, looking rather happy as well.

  


“Ugh, you guys took forever!” She whined, glaring at the two boys who seemed to be biting back laughs. “What were you talking about, anyway?”

  


“We told you - boy stuff.” Jaune replied, shrugging. Nora rolled her eyes and almost said ‘bullshit’, but then she remembered the child in the room and replaced the swear with another groan.

  


“Alright - whatever you say. You just missed out on the greatest training session of the century! So, jokes on you two for speaking about boy stuff!” She made her voice mockingly high on ‘boy stuff’, causing Jaune to roll his eyes playfully. He walked to the fridge and opened it as Ren sauntered up to Nora, putting an arm around her.

  


“Sorry. Tell us about this training session you had. I assume you had it with Oscar, correct?” Nora leaned against Ren’s side with a nod, her pout turning into a soft smile.

  


“Yeah. You should’ve seen him! He’s super good in action! I’d say he’s improved a lot since the battle at Haven.” She sent a wink in his direction, and Oscar coughed into his hand with a red face.

  


“...I’m not that good. Nora’s fast and goes in hard. She’s much better than me.” He replied, looking over at Jaune in concern as the blond male dropped a soda can on his foot. “Um… are you okay, Mister Jaune?”

  


“Just peachy.” Jaune grumbled in reply. Nora snorted into her hand before gasping, her eyes widening.

  


“Hey! Why don’t we all have a training session together?” She exclaimed, moving away from Ren and jumping up and down. “It’ll be fun and educational!” Oscar swung his legs nervously, timidly shaking his head.

  


“Um… no thank you. I think that training session was enough for today. Maybe I can watch all of you.” Nora groaned, jumping up on the counter next to Oscar and crossing her arms. The boy responded by scooting over slightly, his cheeks pink. “Can’t we just… watch a movie instead?” Ren gave a small smile, moving over to stand next to his partner.

  


“I second that. There’s nothing like watching a nice movie on a rainy day. Jaune?” Three pairs of eyes settled on the blond male, who finally got his soda can to open. Jaune seemed to ponder for a second before saying, “yeah, I’m down”, much to Nora’s dismay.

  


“What movie would we even watch, huh? There aren’t even a lot of good movies.” She countered, huffing.

  


“Um… there was this one movie that I saw Ruby watching on her scroll yesterday. It was called ‘The Titanic’, I think.” Oscar piped up, setting his cup down on the other side of him. “It seemed interesting.”

  


“That sounds fine. Let’s see if I can hook my scroll up to the tv correctly this time.” Jaune said, already running into the living room to set up the tv. Ren looked towards Nora with a smile, and she couldn’t help but blush.

  


“You get the blankets, I’ll get the popcorn?” He offered. Nora, who was busy blushing, nodded and kind of ran off to find some blankets.

  


“You can get some drinks, Oscar.” She heard Ren say. Oscar replied with a small ‘on it.’ and then she heard shuffling of feet and a small chuckle.

  


After some preparations, the four squeezed onto the couch (Oscar was actually going to sit on the small couch, but Nora insisted that he sat with them) and pulled the blankets over. Then Jaune started the movie, and halfway through, the blond began to cry. Nora laughed at him a little bit but regretted it when she began to cry a few scenes as well later.

  


(“This is so sad!” she exclaimed when she began to cry. “That’s not fair!”)

  


It was the end, however, that kind of got to Oscar. The child was tearing up a bit and he unconsciously snuggled up against Nora a little bit more, so she put an arm around him as he sniffled, and she sobbed.

  


(“I’ll never let go my ass!”)

  


(“Nora-”)

  


Ren seemed unphased by the entire thing. Yeah, it was said, he said, but it didn’t really make me want to cry.

  


This prompted Nora to begin attacking Ren with a pillow. He cried out in surprise and tried to scramble away, but the female was too fast for him. Feathers flew everywhere as Jaune jokingly hit Oscar, but the farm boy wasn’t afraid to fight back.

  


“What is going on in here?!” The group of four people stopped and turned their heads to find Team RWBY and Qrow standing at the door with bags in their hands and dumbfounded looks on their faces.

  


“What does it look like?” Nora asked like it was obvious. “We’re having a pillow fight! Duh!”

  


“I want in!” Ruby exclaimed, dropping her bags and jumping on the couch.

  


“Ruby! You still have your shoes on!” Weiss followed her, dropping her bags as well. Soon enough, everyone was having a pillow fight with one another (besides Qrow - party pooper.), and the floor looked like it had buckets of snow on it. You could hardly see the carpets and wooden floors anymore.

  


Nora suddenly realized that the freckled boy was nowhere to be found, so she yelled for a time out. “Oscar! Where are you?” She called with a pout. Maybe he retreated because he felt funny?

  


A sudden pillow to the face made Nora change her mind.

  


“That’s for sneaking up on me today!” Oscar yelled, his cheeks flushed and a grin on his face. Nora cackled, grabbing two pillows and smirking.

  


“You’re going to pay for that, little man!”

  


(Unfortunately, Oscar forgot to watch out and step to the side, and Qrow ended up having to treat a big cut on his arm from a glass vase he got knocked into.)

  


(But it was fine. Nora would help fix it once she cleaned the floor of all the feathers.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whips


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Oscar gets sick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM SORRY IM WEAK FOR SICK FICS  
> AND I JUST FINSIHED CELESTE AND I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS  
> i haven't cried over a video game this much ever since to the moon  
> but anyway !  
> after last week's episode, i really needed more dad qrow content bc im still hurting a lot  
> and i also headcanon that ren's semblance makes people drowsy because when all your emotions get masked and you become something akin to numb, i'd imagine you'd feel drowsy  
> also !!  
> im kind of running out of ideas? so if you have any just lay them on me, okay?   
> enjoy !!

Oscar waded into the pond, letting out a soft sigh as the water wrapped around his legs and made small ripples. Luckily, it wasn’t raining this time around. It was only cloudy, and Oscar ran out of the house in a hurry without leaving a note. In hindsight, leaving without a note was probably a bad idea, but Qrow would probably know where he was. Besides, he never knew when it was going to rain again. He might as well enjoy this while it lasted.

  


**_I see now why you’re so happy about the pond. It’s peaceful here._ **

  


Ozpin murmured. Oscar smiled inwardly and splashed around a bit, not caring if he got wet. Sure, it was a bit chilly, but the joy of seeing this pond again was too overpowering.

  


“Yeah. I haven’t been here in like, forever.”

  


**_And by ‘forever’ you mean two days. I also believe that this pond solves your homesick problems, if only for a while._ **

  


Oscar huffed, feeling his cheeks heat up. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

  


**_That wasn’t my intent, Oscar. My apologies. I just think it’s rather… adorable that you find comfort in small things like this. I wish I learned how to do this._ **

  


“You still can.” Oscar replied, waddling out of the pond and sitting under a tree. He awaited a response, but Ozpin had gone silent, causing a small spark of nervousness to bubble in Oscar’s chest. Had he said something wrong? He probably did, didn’t he? And he knew Ozpin wasn’t just thinking because he could hear all the wizard’s thoughts, and right now, he wasn’t thinking anything. The freckled boy bit his lower lip and curled his knees up to his chest.

  


**_...Don’t worry about me, Oscar._ **

  


Oscar shrugged and watched as it began drizzling with a soft pout. “It’s kind of concerning when you don’t think. It’s impossible not to worry.”

  


**_Okay. I’ll try to… think more._ **

  


Oscar could hear the teasing tone in the man’s voice. Oscar rolled his eyes, biting back a sarcastic comment. “Thanks. I guess.”

  


**_You’re welcome. I’m glad to be of assistance by thinking more._ **

  


He was never going to let that go, was he?

  


The farm boy groaned out loud and put a hand out to feel the steadily increasing rain. It would be in his best interest to go back to the house now, but he was so bored of seeing the same browns repeatedly. So, with no regard for his actual health, he decided to stay for a bit longer. He saw a small patch of flowers under the trees on the other side, so he thought hey, if he could stay dry and have some new scenery, that would be a win-win. Oscar got up and ran around the pond to the small patch of flowers, smiling as he realized that it was a patch of lilacs.

  


**_How beautiful. They’re like the color in a black and white photo._ **

  


“No kidding,” Oscar said with a fond smile, bending down and examining them. “They’re really pretty. Maybe I should pick some and bring them back for everyone. Do you think Qrow would put a flower behind his ear?”

  


The two snickered in unison. **_No, I don’t think so. Although, the sight would be very funny._**

  


In the end, Oscar decided to leave the flowers alone. They belonged out here in the wild, anyway. He hummed a small tune as he explored further into the trees, grateful for the shelter the leaves and branches provided from the rain. He didn’t think anyone would appreciate if he got sick 6 days before they went to Atlas, and he didn’t want to be any more of a burden to them.

  


**_I wouldn’t say you’re a burden to them, Oscar._ **

  


Oscar made it a point to ignore Ozpin and continued to trek through the trees. He couldn’t help but feel nervous, but it just seemed so interesting! The flower patch was more than just a small patch - it extended back and back, and it sparked Oscar’s curiosity. Flowers reminded him of home, and how his aunt would always plant the seeds and make him water them. Then, when they would begin to grow, Oscar would run to his aunt, screaming ‘auntie auntie! Look! The flowers are growing!’ and she would run out with him and they would obsess over the flowers for a couple of minutes and then go back to whatever they were doing before, but every day they would go outside and check the progress. The farm boy smiled at the memory, running his hands against the soft lilacs. Things were simpler back then.

  


Now he has the weight of the world on his shoulders and no idea what he was doing.

  


Suddenly, the flowers weren’t so comforting anymore. Taking a deep breath, Oscar turned around and began walking back to the pond, deciding that standing in the rain was better than turning sweet memories into bittersweet ones.

  


**_Oscar-_ **

  


“I’m going back to the pond now. Can you… uh… talk for a bit?”

  


**_...Of course, Oscar. Let’s see…_ **

  


Until Oscar got to the clearing, Ozpin spoke of how he thought of the market in Mistral, and how he was (like most people) ‘rather glad’ to get out of the house in 6 days and see things aside from the dull brown walls of the house.

  


(Oscar laughed a bit at that, and he could feel the swell of pride that Ozpin felt.)

  


Oscar was greeted with an odd sight when he got back to the pond - under the tree was standing Qrow, pacing around and wiping water from his arms and shirt. The freckled boy suddenly had an urge to shrink back and go look at the lilacs again, but he forced himself forward, suddenly getting a bright idea. Quickly, Oscar ran around the pond, hid behind a tree, waited until Qrow’s back was facing towards him and ran up to the huntsman. He gave Qrow a big hug from behind, small giggles escaping his lips. He almost let go when Qrow tensed, but he relaxed and unhooked Oscar’s hands from his waist. Oscar was a bit disappointed, however, was very pleasantly surprised when Qrow gave him a hug from the front.

  


Oscar was usually the one to initiate physical contact (well… besides the one nightmare night, but we don’t speak about that), so having Qrow start it was rather exciting to the boy.

  


“Hey, Qrow.” Oscar murmured contently. He blushed when the huntsman chuckled and ruffled his hair.

  


“Hey, pipsqueak. I thought I would find you here. But I was given a big scare when I didn’t see you anywhere. Where were you?” Oscar pointed towards the small patch of flowers, which seemed to be glowing in the rain. Qrow let out a soft sigh and smiled lopsidedly, finally letting go of Oscar. The brunet would be lying if he said he wasn’t disappointed (the gods know he needs more hugs), but he brushed it off and studied Qrow’s face.

  


“...They’re pretty. You didn’t go too far down, did you? I’d imagine within all those flowers, grimm are probably crawling somewhere.”

  


Oscar felt a spike of nervousness bubble in his chest. If he went any farther, would he have been attacked by grimm? He let out a huff, feeling upset that for every beauty in this world, there seemed to be an ugly part. Qrow stretched, muttering an ‘I’m tired’ and put his arm on Oscar’s head and leaned on it as if to use Oscar as an armrest per say, but the poor boy wasn’t ready and before he could react, he went tumbling down his Qrow falling on top of him.

  


He scowled at Ozpin laughing hysterically in his brain and tried to push the huntsman off him, but to his surprise, he could hear Qrow chuckling. “Guess you weren’t ready for that, huh?” He asked, rolling off the boy and staring at the sky. At this rate, they would both be soaked in 5 minutes.

  


But honestly? Oscar didn’t care. He laid down with Qrow and stared at the sky as well, blushing and getting raindrops in his eyes. “What makes you think that?” He asked sarcastically.

  


Qrow shrugged, resting his hands against his chest. “Maybe I figured it out because when I lean on you, you fell over.”

  


“You’re heavy!” Oscar whined.

  


“You’re just small.”

  


“I am not!”   


“You’re shorter than Nora, pipsqueak. That’s saying a lot.”

  


Oscar pouted and crossed his arms, feeling the rain soaking into his clothes and dripping down his back. He forced back a shiver and sat up, shaking his head like a dog would to get all the rain out of his hair. Qrow made an alarmed noise and sat up.

  


“What was that for? You know you’re going to get wet anyway.”

  


“Why are you complaining? You’re going to get wet anyway.”

  


Qrow whistled, trying to look disappointed and stern, but he just couldn’t hold back the smile that tugged at the corners of his lips. “Since when were you a sass master, kiddo?” Oscar shrugged, picking at the grass.

  


“I dunno… I guess I just feel more comfortable to be myself around you, that’s all.” The farm boy replied, flicking a piece of grass off his gloves.

  


**_I don’t know whether to be prouder of Qrow for winning over a child, or to be more mortified that you don’t feel comfortable enough around others to be yourself._ **

  


_They’re intimidating, okay? Just give me some time._

  


**_You’re telling me Miss Rose is intimidating?_ **

  


_She has a scythe - I’m not taking any chances!_

  


“...iddo. Kiddo!” Qrow’s voice snapped him out of his mental conversation and brought him back to the present. “Are you mental-arguing with Oz?”

  


“...Well, not arguing, per say. Just… bouncing thoughts back and forth.” Oscar replied with a shy smile. “I’m sorry.”

  


“No need for that.” Qrow laid back down. “You apologize too much.”

  


“...Sorry.” Oscar murmured, shivering when he felt a cold raindrop roll down his spine. “What were you saying?”

  


Qrow eyed him for a moment, looking unnecessary suspicious before reverting to his neutral face. “I was saying that I don’t know whether to be more honored that you trust me, or more confused why you don’t trust the others.”

  


**_Huh. Great minds think alike._ **

  


Oscar had to stop himself from gawking. “U-uh… I dunno. Everyone’s really intimidating. Like, I know Ruby’s bubbly and nice and all, but she has a scythe! I’m not taking any chances!” He exclaimed before Qrow could counter. The huntsman chuckled, clearly amused. The freckled boy huffed and looked to the side, feeling ridiculous now. “...Fine. I’ll try to talk to them more. I just get nervous, is all.”

 

“Yup. We’re going to have to work on that.” Qrow said, pointing at Oscar. “What if you must talk to someone if we’re on a mission, per say. We don’t want you sputtering and blowing our cover. No offense, but you need to learn how to be more confident.”

 

  


“I... ugh, I know.” Oscar rubbed the back of his neck, shivering when he felt another raindrop trickle down his spine. Qrow immediately sat up with a frown.

 

“We should get going. I don’t want you to catch a cold.” He said, standing up and extending his arm out for Oscar to take. Confused as to why Qrow was in such a hurry, Oscar made a face, took his hand and stood up.

 

“You don’t need to worry about me.” Oscar said, squeezing Qrow’s hand (he honestly didn’t know if it was to reassure Qrow or himself.). “I’ve only gotten sick once, and I got over it in a day. I’ll be fine!”

 

Oh no, but he wasn’t fine.

 

The next morning, the **_oh no_** from Ozpin made Oscar’s anxiety shoot through the roof. He gulped, silently asking _what’s wrong what’s wrong_ but he already knew what was wrong.

 

Lucky him – 5 days before Atlas, and he was sick. He didn’t think it was too bad, but the waves of frantic and nervous thoughts were. **_Oscar there isn’t a need to worry,_** Ozpin had said, but Oscar was way beyond worrying at this point. Qrow would probably laugh at him for saying ‘No, I won’t get sick’ and then getting sick the next day, right? He didn’t think that little of Qrow, but what if the others did? He must look so pathetic right now-

 

Oscar coughed into his pillow and allowed himself to groan aloud as Ozpin pondered on the ways Oscar could get help. One of the thoughts that went through Ozpin’s head was to bang his fist against the wall, which was more funny than helpful, and although it made Oscar snicker, it was back to the drawing board.

 

 ** _I don’t think I’ll be taking control any time soon._** Ozpin said. Oscar could practically hear the smile in his voice. **_You should seriously consider calling for someone. You can’t even move._**

****

_I know. The question is if I actually_ can _call for someone._

**_Try._ **

****

Oscar scowled and opened his mouth to speak, but luckily, he didn’t have to. Someone opened the door to his room, and the farm boy almost hissed from the bright light coming from outside. Upon further inspection, he realized that Ren was coming to check up on him.

 

“Oscar, it’s nearly noon. Are you…” Ren took one look at his flushed cheeks and pale face and knew immediately that something was wrong.

 

“…I’ll go get Qrow and a thermometer, okay Oscar?” Ren tried to smile reassuringly, but the concern was clear on his face.

 

_(Why would he be so concerned? I just weigh them down, don’t I?)_

Oscar couldn’t bring himself to speak, so he just opted for nodding instead. Ren walked out of the room, leaving Oscar alone for a couple of minutes. He was trying his hardest not to have a breakdown, but at this rate, it probably couldn’t be helped.

 

**_You’re fine, Oscar. It’s just a small cold. Can you breathe for me?_ **

****

_I would, but my nose is so stuffy that I can’t._

**_Qrow and Ren will be back shortly. There’s no need to worry. Just breathe._** A small beat. **_I really need to teach you some breathing exercises._**

****

_…how do you know about breathing exercises?_

**_Do you think this is the first soul I’ve fused with that has something akin to anxiety? I’ve also interacted with many people who have anxiety as well. And although I wouldn’t like to admit it, I’ve had to talk myself out of a few panic attacks. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, Oscar – you just must learn to control it._ **

****

_…Noted. Please teach me. Like… right now?_

**_Wait until they take your temperature and then leave. You must do things like that with a clear mind._ **

****

_Thanks._

**_It’s really not a problem, Oscar._ **

****

Just then, Qrow busted through the door, making Oscar yelp in surprise. Ren walked in shortly after with an expression that read ‘sorry’. After a big ordeal about not knowing how to take temperature and trying to get a bunch of answers out of Oscar, the two concluded that he had just a small fever and it was nothing serious. He just had to drink a lot of liquids and stay in bed.

 

Great. This would be just like those three days he was forced to stay in bed, feeling all sorts of horrible after the battle at Haven. The farm boy let out a small puff of air that was a mix between a huff and a panicked exhale. It didn’t seem like anyone knew how to do anything with sickness – did that mean he would have to take care of himself? Or maybe he would be sick when they headed to Atlas? What if they got into a battle and he couldn’t help? That would be… like… a 10% chance less of surviving! And it would be all his fault!

 

**_Oscar-_ **

****

“Kid? Are you okay? You look like you’re about to blow a fuse.” Qrow observed, frowning. He then stopped, seemed to think for a second and then came to an understanding, to which he immediately dropped down and knelt beside him, taking his hand and squeezing it. “It’s going to be alright, kiddo. Just a day or two of bedrest. I promise everything will be fine.”

 

“If you want me to, I could…” Ren trailed off, holding his hand up. “But it would probably put him to sleep for a little bit. I find that happens with younger kids.” Oscar nodded frantically. Anything to go to sleep and just have a little bit of relief for the time being. The ninja­-like male smiled weakly and put his hand on Oscar’s hot forehead, his semblance activating. Almost right away, Oscar began to feel drowsy, and he squeezed Qrow’s hand a bit harder. He got a squeeze in response, and he closed his eyes.

 

“Don’t worry about a thing, kiddo.”

 

 **The next time** Oscar woke up, he heard footsteps. There was a pounding in his head and his body felt like hot and cold caterpillars were crawling up and down his back. He let out a soft groan and turned to the side, curling up into a tiny ball. Oscar assumed that Ozpin was asleep as well because of the silence, but that was okay. He needed time to himself for a bit.

 

When the door opened, he un-curled and looked towards the door to see Weiss holding a tray with a bowl on it with Ruby trailing behind, holding a mug with steam flowing out of it.

 

“I assure you, Ruby, my soup is fine. Klein taught me how to make it, so it’s 100% reliable!” Weiss whispered aggressively. He appreciated the effort that she put in on trying to keep it down, but he winced, everything seeming just a bit too loud suddenly. Ruby hugged, glaring at her partner.

 

“Keep it down, Weiss!” She then turned to Oscar with a bright smile on her face. “Oh! You’re awake!” She whispered. “We brought you some food and hot coco if you felt like drinking or eating. We put water into the hot coco because you have to drink water more than anything. And Weiss made you soup! So, if you feel like eating, it’ll be on your nightstand, okay?” She reached over and ruffled his hair as Weiss put everything on his nightstand.

 

“We hope you feel better, Oscar.” Weiss smiled reassuringly. “Just shout if you need us, okay?” Oscar gave her a thumbs up, and she responded with a thumbs up as well. “See you soon!” And with that, they walked out of the room. Oscar rolled over and pushed himself up with his elbows with a grunt. He moved so that he was sitting near the nightstand and resting against his headboard. Biting his lower lip, Oscar rubbed his arms, a small, shiver shaking his frame. It was official – being sick was the worst.

 

Besides that, Oscar was feeling a bit hungry. He took the bowl of soup and the spoon next to it with shaking hands and placed the bowl on his lap, making sure to balance it out so that he wouldn’t spill it.

 

The soup was… surprisingly good. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe in Weiss’ cooking abilities, it was just that he was expecting everything to taste bad due to the bad taste in his mouth. He hummed in content and proceeded to down the rest of the soup, happy that he was able to get something in his stomach.

 

**_Hm… I didn’t know Miss Schnee could cook._ **

****

Ozpin spoke quietly, careful not to startle the freckled boy. Oscar nodded to himself, setting the bowl to the side. He wasn’t really in the mood for hot chocolate; maybe later.

 

“…Neither did I.” Oscar murmured, sliding back under the covers. “It was a pleasant surprise.”

 

**_I assume you’re going to be falling asleep soon. What if I teach you some breathing exercises before you do? You might need them when you wake up._ **

****

“Okay.” Oscar shifted a bit so that he was comfortable and closed his eyes. “Teach me one for now, if that’s okay with you.”

 

**_Of course. Imagine a feather floating in front of you._ **

****

Oscar took a deep breath and imagined a golden feather floating in the middle of darkness. **_Okay. We can start. Imagine that your breath is the only thing keeping the feather afloat. You can’t breathe in too hard because it’ll float away, but you can’t exhale too hard or else it’ll touch the floor. Try it now, okay?_**

****

Oscar took a small breath in, and the feather floated upward, then he exhaled, and the feather slowly floated down. As he breathed in and out, the feather remained in the same area, floating up and down calmly and stable.

 

He let himself be lulled to sleep by Ozpin’s soft chuckle and the feeling to pure peace.

 

 **The second time** Oscar woke up, he woke up in a panic and _ran_ to the small bathroom in his room. Luckily his room was the one of the only rooms with a bathroom attached to it, because he wouldn’t have made it to the bathroom out in the hallway.

 

He slipped, fell, and managed to scramble fast enough to empty his stomach’s contents into the toilet and not on the floor. A sob caught in his throat as he vomited, feeling as if his stomach was just getting pressed down flat. After a couple of more minutes of that, he was just coughing up stringy acid and spit, all while choking on sobs and wiping his eyes. Being sick was horrible and he hoped he never had to experience it again for a while.

 

Oscar sat there for a bit, feeling weak and horrible in many, many ways. He thought that he was going to doze off right there on the bathroom floor, but the door opened, and a small ‘hey’ filled in the silence. He didn’t know who it was, but he just wanted a shoulder to lean on. He let out a small whimper, and then hurried footsteps pounded against the floor and there stood Qrow in the doorway, his eyes wide and his face three shades paler than it usually was.

 

 _I’m so pathetic,_ Oscar thought, and that thought alone was enough to make him burst into tears again. Qrow murmured an ‘oh, kid’, and knelt beside him, making sure to flush the toilet before anything else.

 

“Why don’t you brush your teeth and then what do you say we have a snuggle session, kiddo?” He asked with a smile. Oscar nodded frantically, not caring that the motion made him nauseous. Qrow helped him up, helped him brush his teeth and carried him back to bed, all while the boy was drifting in and out of consciousness.

 

“I-I don’t… I-I don’t want to get you… sick…” Oscar muttered, snuggling closer to Qrow. The huntsman chuckled in reply as he sat on the bed and adjusted his hold so that the farm boy was sitting on his lap and his head was resting against his chest.

 

“Don’t worry about that, kid.” He said with a wave of his hand. Qrow then slowly began to card his fingers through Oscar’s hair, who replied with a small noise of content. His aunt used to do that to him whenever he had a bad night or was feeling down. For once since he got here, he felt truly at home. It was enough to make him tear up a bit, but he managed to bite the tears back as Qrow hummed a soft tune, continuing his ministrations.

 

**_…I do hope you feel better, Oscar. It’ll be over before you know it. I promise._ **

****

Oscar could hear the soft smile in the wizard’s voice. _Thanks,_ he replied in return. He waited for a response, but when he received none, he allowed himself to relax.

 

“You’ll be better in no time, kid. You just have to drink a lot of water, okay? I’ll be with you every step of the way, and so will everyone. I’m sorry that you’re sick.” Qrow spoke quietly, trying not to disturb the comfortable silence that fell between the two. Oscar smiled shyly, finding Qrow’s sleeve and clutching onto it, a content sigh escaping his lips.

 

“I’m right here kid.”

 

**_I’m here too, Oscar._ **

****

As Oscar nodded off, he heard Qrow singing under his breath, and he wanted to hear what he was singing before he drifted to sleep.

 

He fell asleep with tears in his eyes as Qrow sang _‘Don’t you worry, don’t you worry child…”_

Oscar woke up a couple of times in the middle of the night but floated back into the realm on unconsciousness when Ozpin told him to. He made a mental note to ask about it later in the day, however he would probably forget about that mental note.

 

 **The last time** he was feeling considerably better than the past few hours. He was no longer hot and then cold, and his aches were gone. He just felt… stuffy. And numb. A shudder ran up Oscar’s spine as he slowly sat up, his eyes flickering around the room. It was relatively dark, but sunlight filtered through the blinds and made small spotlights on the floor. The freckled boy got the sudden urge to put his feet in the small spotlights but pushed it down. Instead, he rolled out of bed and slowly walked out of his room, hissing under his breath as cool air hit him. Oscar grabbed a blanket from his bed and wrapped it around his shoulders, then set out like that. He was just going to get a small bottle of water and then he would return and probably waste away on his bed until he was good enough to go.

 

He really didn’t know what time of day it was or what he was expecting, but he was surprised nonetheless when he found the entire group in the kitchen, watching as Qrow made pancakes. Nora banged her hands against the table as the rest of the group laughed. Oscar gulped, considering turning around and going back to the room. He wouldn’t want to get in the middle of this, right?

 

Too late.

 

“Oscar!” Sun exclaimed, bouncing up from his seat and running over to the boy. “We were worried. Are you feeling better?” Oscar blinked, obviously surprised, but he nodded anyway.

 

“U-uh, yeah, I guess I’m feeling a little better. I’m a tiny bit weak, though.”

 

“Well, then! Let’s get some food in your system!” The faunus exclaimed, patting Oscar’s back lightly. He missed the wince on Oscar’s face and dragged him over to the table, making sure he was situated in a seat before going back to sitting next to Blake.

 

He listened as everyone spoke, feeling warmer inside than the blanket made him feel outside. So… they did care after all. Oscar didn’t know what made him doubt that in the first place, but the way that they incorporated him into everything and always made sure he was okay made him realize that they cared about him – he might go as far to say that he was one of them now.

 

(He ignored the small chuckle Ozpin gave at that thought.)

 

“Alright – pancakes are ready. I got you a cup of water, Oscar.” Qrow said, setting the glass cup in front of the farm boy and the stack of pancakes in the middle of the table. The huntsman winked at him before directing his attention back to the group of rowdy teenagers. “Eat up. Don’t be monsters, though. If you are, guess who’s cleaning up the table after?” He asked. Nora groaned, but the rest nodded in agreement.

 

Oscar hummed as he took a sip of his water, watching as Nora devoured half of the pancakes in one go. He snickered, almost spitting his water back into his cup.

 

 ** _What a remarkable group of people – wouldn’t you say so, Oscar?_** Ozpin asked fondly. **_Do you see why I trust them now?_**

****

_…_

_Yeah. I now see why you trust them._

(The next day, Oscar was as fit as a fiddle, and the rest of the household didn’t get sick.)

 

(3 days until Atlas.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was 15 pages and over 5000 words


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Oscar and Ozpin finally meet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so after this chapter i'm taking a small break (probably lmao)  
> i got this idea from magicninjaturtle so thank you to them for this !!  
> this will probably become an au-ish fic where the gang makes it to Argus and then other stuff happens but ?? i haven't decided yet. i need some time to figure out where this is going owo  
> again, if you have any ideas, just tell me owo  
> also !! i made a playlist with songs that i thought would fit oscar/ozpin so if you guys wanna see it then just say so owo  
> without furthur ado !!  
> enjoy !!!

**_Oscar. I hope you are aware you need to sleep. You’re leaving for Atlas tomorrow – you haven’t slept for the past two nights._ **

****

Oscar turned over in his bed, trying to ignore Ozpin. He knew that he needed sleep, but he just… couldn’t. He took a nap three days ago and had a nightmare so bad that he had a panic attack in the nightmare, then launched himself into a panic attack in real life. It took Qrow, Jaune and Ruby (plus Ozpin) about 30 minutes to calm him down and even then, he was still wary of everything.

 

He really didn’t want to go to sleep. Not if he could help it. He didn’t want to be a bother to anyone at 2 in the morning, so he wasn’t going to be a bother to anyone at 2 in the morning.

 

**_Oscar, I promise, I’ll stay awake so that I can chase the nightmares away, okay? Just trust me._ **

****

“I-It’s… it’s not the same. I’m sorry, I just… I just don’t want to go through that again.” Oscar whimpered under his breath, trying to curl into himself for comfort. He just really needed something like… a hug. Or just a pat on the shoulder. Anything. He heard Ozpin hum to himself, and he could practically feel the male frowning to himself.

 

**_Close your eyes. Trust me._ **

****

Despite every single fiber in his being screaming at him not to, Oscar slowly closed his eyes, gripping onto the pillows so tightly that his knuckled turned white.

 

**_Okay, that’s a start. Just relax now. Let everything go._ **

****

Oscar took a deep breath and relaxed, forcing his breathing to be controlled. If he could force himself to go to sleep then would the nightmares not come? Was that how it worked? Ozpin chuckled almost bitterly. **_I’m afraid that’s not how it works, Oscar. Now, just continue breathing. A surprise will come to you in a couple of minutes, okay?_**

****

_That sounds eerie, but, okay…_

Oscar huffed to himself, thinking that this was all absolutely absurd, but obeyed anyway. In a couple of minutes, he drifted off, but instead of the familiar picture of a dream, a grey-haired male was standing in front of him with glasses, a green scarf and a black outfit, and he was holding…

 

Ozpin’s cane…

 

“…O-Ozpin…?” Oscar’s voice came out as barely a whisper. The man smiled sweetly, and Oscar could feel his cheeks heat up.

 

“Indeed. It’s nice to finally see you face to face, Oscar.”

 

“H-how…? How are you… I didn’t even think this was…” The shorter boy struggled to put his thoughts into words, his eyes wide and his cheeks getting redder and redder by the second. “Hi.” He finally settled for, clasping his shaking hands together. Ozpin chuckled, his eyes lighting up with amusement.

 

“Hello.” He replied. There was a beat of silence and stillness in the black void they seemed to be in before Ozpin sat down on the floor, patting the space next to him. Oscar shuffled, shyly sitting next to the grey-haired male and pulling his legs up to his chest.

 

“…You look different from what I imagined you.” Oscar murmured timidly, looking away.

 

“Hmph. What did you imagine I’d look like?” Ozpin asked, smiling and looking over at Oscar. Too flustered and shocked to make eye contact, the farm boy continued to look away, curling into himself a bit more.

 

“U-um, well, I imagined you’d look a bit more… less-regal. I mean, you chose me as a like-minded soul, after all. I thought you’d look less… upper-class-y.” Oscar was afraid the word jumble that just came out of his mouth wasn’t coherent, but Ozpin chuckled, seeming to understand.

 

“Well, I guess I’d take that over you imagining me as more of a higher-classman.” Ozpin replied. “But yes, this is what I look like. I’ve been waiting to do this for a while, actually. I do this when I trust the person I fused with fully, and I usually don’t do it until later. However,” He smiled at Oscar, and the farm boy finally looked at the male. “I trust you a lot, Oscar.”

 

Oscar didn’t know whether to cry or hug him. So, he just sat there, his mouth opening and closing as if he wanted to say something. Ozpin chuckled, bringing his hand up to cover his mouth. “I understand how you’re feeling, Oscar. It might be a bit to take in at first.” Oscar shrugged, hugging his legs and looking away again. All this time, he had imagined what he would say if he saw Ozpin in person. Now that he saw him in person, everything went out the window. He felt a bit… awkward and useless. Small. Ozpin frowned, the light in his eyes dimming a tiny bit.

 

“You know, Oscar, even though we’re two separate people right now, I can still hear your thoughts.” Oscar choked on his spit, his cheeks turning a new shade of red.

 

“U-uh, um, I-I, uh… I’m sorry!” Oscar finally spat out, burying his face in his hands in embarrassment. He tried not to think for a second as Ozpin put his hand on his shoulder and rubbed his reassuringly.

 

“Don’t be. It’s fine. I just… I worry when you have thoughts like that. You’re young, Oscar. However, I do suppose I take the fall for that.” He chuckled bitterly. “I apologize, Oscar.” Oscar remained silent for a couple of seconds before standing up, and the older male looked surprised. Before he could say anything, Oscar opened his mouth, a tune familiar to him coming out.

 

_…You hold your truth so purely…_

_You swerve not through the minds of men…_

_This lie is dead._

Ozpin looked very surprised at Oscar suddenly singing, but listened intently, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. The freckled boy was very hesitant to continue, however, forced himself to, watching as Ozpin’s bitter expression slowly morphed into a curious one.

 

_This cup of yours tastes holy…_

_But a brush with the devil can clear your mind…_

_Straighten your spine._

Oscar stood up a bit straighter, looking out into the black abyss before looking back at the grey-haired male, wringing his hands together and pacing back and forth.

 

_Fingers tap into what you were once –_

_And I’m worried that I blew my only chance._

_I’ve seen the nightmares_ , Oscar thought. _What makes you think I think those are nightmares and not memories? I’m not stupid, Ozpin._

 

Ozpin blinked, his eyes widening slightly. “Oscar-“

 

_Whispers in the dark._

_Steal a kiss and you’ll break your heart._

_Pick up your clothes, and curl your toes,_

_Learn your lesson, lead me home!_

_Spare my sins for the ark._

_I was slow to depart,_

_I’m a cad, but not that flawed,_

_I set out to serve the Lord._

Oscar’s expression softened as he finished pacing and sat back down next to the wizard. He couldn’t help but lean against Ozpin, his voice getting smaller and smaller.

 

_And my heart,_

_Was colder when you’ve gone,_

_And I lost my head,_

_But found the one that I loved._

_Under the sun…_

_Under the sun…_

His voice faded out, and he slowly began to feel numb as Ozpin shifted and wrapped an arm around the boy. “…Singing seems to be a working coping mechanism for you… I wish that I had better coping mechanisms back then.” He smiled lightly and looked out into the black. “I’m that this works for you. Your voice is very nice.”

 

“…Thanks.” Oscar snuggled up against Ozpin a bit more, and the older man was more than happy to rest his head against the other’s. This was thee exact kind of comfort Oscar needed right now. “I just thought that you would like the lyrics to that song. It kind of… reflects, I guess.” Ozpin nodded,

 

“I… I know that you’ll be going to through many new experiences that may seem scary and unnatural, but just know that I’ll be with you every step of the way. A lot of people will be there with you, at your side, having your back no matter what.” Oscar let out a breath that he didn’t know he was holding as Ozpin spoke, a sad smile tugging at the corners of his lips. “There isn’t anything you need to worry yourself with, okay?”

 

“…I just can’t help but feel nervous. I’m so far away from home, and I just… it’s scary.” Oscar whispered in reply. “I don’t know what to do. And I’m just… a bother to everyone at this point. At least, I think I am. I think they are annoyed by me at one time, but at another time I think they don’t care about me at all. It’s just… hard. And I just want to punch myself all the time because I just want these thoughts to stop and-“

 

“Oscar.”

 

Ozpin’s voice snapped him out of his thought spiral. Tears built in Oscar’s eyes as he sniffed and looked down, tracing small circles on his knee. He bit his lower lip and waited for Ozpin’s reaction. Would he think that he was pathetic too? To his surprise, the grey-haired male hugged him tightly, and the farm boy allowed his tears to slowly roll down his cheeks.

 

“I’m here for you, Oscar.” Five word was all Ozpin said, and they were enough to make the boy burst into soft sobs. Ozpin rubbed circles into Oscar’s back and let out a soft sigh, muttering, “I’m really glad I was able to do this.”

 

“I-I’m glad… I-I’m glad you were a-able to do this, t-too.” Oscar choked out in between small sobs, gripping onto the edge of the wizard’s shirt to ground himself. Ozpin hugged him tighter and they just stayed like that for who knows how long; Oscar lost track. Once he got himself to calm down. Oscar allowed himself to just melt into Ozpin’s arms, who let out a soft hum.

 

“Are you feeling better now, Oscar? Stress isn’t good for the baby.”

 

Oscar snorted, and he could practically feel the surprised-happiness rolling off Ozpin. “Let me guess – I’m the baby?”

 

“Precisely.”

 

Oscar opened his mouth to speak again, but the room around them flashed white and shook a bit, making Oscar’s anxiety, once again, shoot through the roof. Ozpin held him tighter and let out a soft sigh, either from exasperation or disappointment.

 

“I’m afraid I don’t have much time left – you’re waking up.”

 

“So… when I wake up… you’ll just be a voice again?”

 

“Yes. I don’t think I’ll be able to do this for a while.” Ozpin fell silent, looking off to the side. He then let go of Oscar and stood up, offering a hand to the freckled boy. Oscar took his hand and Ozpin pulled him up, watching as the room shook and flashed white. “I’m glad I got to do this, Oscar. Thank you for keeping my company and putting up with me.”

 

“Putting up with _you?!_ I should be thanking you for-“

 

Ozpin pulled him into another tight hug and then Oscar’s world went white, then black, then-

 

“Oscar? Oscar! Wake up! We’re leaving for Atlas today!” Someone shook him gently, and his eyes cracked open. Ruby and Qrow stood above him, Ruby with a soft pout and Qrow with a small frown.

 

“Hey, kid? Are you okay?” Qrow asked as Oscar sat up. Oscar touched his cheek and found that a tear was rolling down it. He let out a soft sigh and turned to the two with a smile, feeling Ozpin stir in him.

 

“Yeah. Never better. What time are we leaving? I can’t wait to not see these brown walls.”

 

The small giggle from Ruby made him smile as he wiped away the stray tear.

 

Atlas here we come.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i try lmao


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Oscar sees snow for the first time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LIIIVVE  
> ooh boy this chapter went through about 6 rewrites because i didn't know what i was doing  
> i'm sorry !! this is a really short chapter !! but i'll make it up to you somehow  
> i didn't edit this bc its late  
> and also !! i need lots of new ideas for chapters bc im running out and its like running a marathon, being in first place for a bit and then slamming into a brick wall  
> so new ideas would be appriciated  
> so without furthur ado !!  
> enjoy !!

Ruby looked at the snow falling in awe, her eyes lighting up as the small, frozen flakes fluttered down. She scrunched up her nose as a snowflake landed on it and sneezed, not knowing exactly how to feel about the snow. At one moment, she loved it and was enthralled by it, but the next moment it was too cold for her liking.

 

It’s not this this was her first time seeing snow - she was just always excited when it snowed. The way everything turned white and beautiful, how the snow was light, soft and puffy, and how you could literally do anything with it.

 

She turned to exclaim at Weiss, but a certain someone caught her eye.

 

Oscar was standing in the middle of a small clearing (how cliche, huh?), his gloves off and stuffed in his pocket. His hands were out and snow was falling onto them, dissolving into water the moment they touched his palm. The awestruck look on his face had Ruby’s cheeks flaring and had her biting back a coo. She slowly walked over to him, a grin on her face.

 

“Nice to see someone enjoying the snow like I am!” She said excitedly. Oscar blinked twice and turned around, a timid smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

 

“Yeah… I-I’ve, uh, never seen snow before. This is new… It’s cold, but it’s nice! It’s hard to explain, but, the snow is cool, but bad at the same time. It’s pretty, but the white hurts my eyes. It’s cool to stand in and watch fall, but it’s cold.” Oscar stopped himself, his cheeks turning slightly pink. “I-I’m sorry. I’m being weird, I know.” Ruby shook her head furiously, giggling.

 

“No, no! Don’t be sorry! I feel the same way. Like, snow is the coolest thing ever!” She then pouted and gestured to herself, then to Blake with her crop top, then Ren with his open-toed boots. “Me, and a lot of other people, aren’t equipped for the cold, though. And I hate the cold, y’know? The cold is horrible.” She said, bumping the freckled boy lightly with her shoulder. “I don’t think you’re equipped for the cold, either.” Oscar snickered, pulling his gloves back on with a huff. He then stopped, then huffed again, then gasped with child-like wonder when he saw his breath in the air.

 

“...Oh wow.” He breathed, and Ruby couldn’t help but snort.

 

“Oscar you’re so cute!!!” She squealed, pinching his cheeks. “You really have never been in the cold, have you?” When the boy bashfully shook his head, the silver-eyed female ruffled his hair.

 

“Don’t be embarrassed about it, Oscar! It’s fine! You’ll have time to explore and look at the snow later - for now, we have to get to the house that Qrow rented out for us. Gods know how he did it, but he did. I’d also imagine you’d want to get some warmer clothes, right?” Oscar nodded wordlessly, his smile turning into a sheepish one. Ruby wrapped an arm around him and began to walk back towards the group with him, ignoring the stare from her teammates. “We’re going to have a lot of fun in the snow today, okay?”

 

__________________________________________________________

 

Qrow _was_ more like a dad than an uncle. He made sure everyone was bundled up and warm before they were able to go out, despite the fact that aura kept them warm for long enough. Yang almost suffocated from laughter as Qrow made sure Ruby’s cape was warm enough for her, and if that wasn’t enough, he made Ren retire the open-toed shoes for snow boots.

 

Needless to say, no one laughed out loud until they got outside.

 

And honestly? To be fair? Nora started it.

 

She rolled up some snow into a ball and threw it at Yang harder than she’d thrown Hazel out of that building. Yang blinked, growled, and threw one back. That’s how Team RWBY was building a fort to cover themselves from Team JNR’s snowballs. It was a full-blown snowball fight for a while. Jaune, as much of a gentleman as he was, made sure not to throw the balls too hard at first along with Ren, but when Ruby nailed him in the chest with a snowball, he showed no prisoners. Ren was hard to hit because he was so fast, and Nora…

 

She was like a machine gun, but for snowballs.

 

Blake and Weiss threw calculated snowballs, and Yang and Ruby just went in like Nora.

 

Then Oscar walked outside, visibly happy to get away from Qrow’s ‘nagging’ if that’s what you would even call it, but he made the mistake of just stopping to see the snowball fight.

 

That’s when Yang decked him in the face with a snowball.

 

The farm boy stumbled back, crouching down and holding his nose with a small yelp of pain.

 

“Oh my gods! Oscar! I’m so sorry! I wasn’t aiming for your face you’re just so… so tiny! I’m sorry!” Yang exclaimed, her eyes wide. Ruby was about to go make sure Oscar was okay, but let out a surprised yelp and ducked when Oscar retaliated with a snowball of his own. He chucked it right at Yang, hitting her on the side. Despite his red cheeks, nose, and what looked like a small bruise forming on the top of his cheek, there was a bright grin on his face.

 

“Snow is the best.” He stated, and Nora let out a whoop.

 

“Come join our side, Oscar! It’s unfair anyway!” The orange-haired girl exclaimed, waving her arms. Ruby huffed, crossing her arms and giving the boy the most warning-look she could muster. Oscar smiled apologetically and moved to stand next to Nora as she clapped.

 

“Now the battle’s really starting!”

 

The snowball fight stopped when Blake and Ren accidentally got too intense and knocked down a tree, effectively scaring the living daylights out of everyone.

 

“No more snowball fights!” Ruby declared shakily as Blake and Ren apologized many, many times.

 

So, instead of a snowball fight, they decided to build snowmen. Despite his enthusiasm, Oscar couldn’t roll snow into a large ball for his life. Ruby snickered and abandoned her own snowman, slowly making her way over to Oscar. The farm boy huffed, looking up at the female with red cheeks.

 

“...I’ve never built a snowman before.” He admitted sheepishly. Ruby smiled reassuringly, bending down to gather some snow.

 

“Here! I’ll teach you! So, it goes like this…”

 

So, the quest to build a snowman began; completed with two pretty short people giggling, throwing snow at one another, getting weird looks, and falling face-first into the snow.

 

Eventually, they managed to create a snowman. It wasn’t as big as the others, but it was pretty good. Oscar was practically glowing with excitement as Ruby took of her hat (she didn’t need it anyway - it wasn’t that cold out) and placed it on the snowman. The two stepped back to admire it, both buzzing with happiness.

 

“It’s really cool!! Do you think I can put my scarf on it?” Oscar asked, his eyes lit up like the sun. The silver-eyed female giggled, the grin on her face stupidly big.

 

“Of course! Just be careful, yeah?”

 

Oscar waddled up to the snowman, took his scarf off and wrapped it around the snowman. Then he stepped back and bumped Ruby lightly with his shoulder, much like she did when they first got to Atlas. ‘Thank you,” He said with a soft smile, and Ruby’s heart must’ve skipped a beat or two. She laughed, albeit nervous, rubbing the back of her neck.

 

“It’s no problem! I’m just glad you’re having fun!” She replied. Oscar looked at the other snowmen, then back at the one that they had built. He then snickered, the pigment of red still dusting his cheeks.

 

“Ours is the best.”

 

“Duh! Of course it is!”  


After an hour of snowman building and snow-angel making (Oscar was so enthralled by the idea of snow angels that he just flopped onto the group without thinking of the consequences.), everyone decided to go in to have a mug of hot chocolate and shower. The new house was gigantic, Ruby realized - they were all so excited by the snow that no one explored it. While the hot chocolate was being made, Ruby slowly around to see the house fully.

 

There were a bunch of bedrooms - both single and double bedded, three bathrooms, and a really big living room and a gigantic kitchen. Not to mention there was also a basement that they could train in. Needless to say, Ruby was very excited to live in this house, even if it was only temporary. Unlike Mistral, there was a lot to do in Atlas, so even if they had to stay here for a while, there would be tons to do before it got to the level of boring that it had in Mistral.

 

She waddled back into the living room to find all her friends sitting on the couch, wrapped up in blankets with a mug of hot chocolate in their hands. She took the last one on the table and snuggled up next to Weiss despite her protests.

 

“Tomorrow we’ll go see Ironwood,” Qrow said, scrolling through his scroll. “We have a lot of news to bring him. But…” He shrugged, putting his scroll back in his pocket and taking a sip of water instead of a sip of alcohol (Ruby felt a swell of happiness in her chest at that.). “Rest up for now. You kids deserve to have some fun. Holler if you need me - I’ll be in my room.” And just like that, he got up and left. Oscar shifted uncomfortably in his seat, and before Ruby could do anything, Ren placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder and began to talk about how he hadn’t had that much fun since the food fight at Beacon.

 

When Oscar asked, ‘Food fight?;, Nora and Ruby gasped at the same time and began telling the tale of how the food fight even started, how Team RWBY won and how Ruby ended it with her ‘super awesome semblance.’

 

And then they told the tale of how the team fought on the train, and then how they faced of toe-to-toe with grimm in the giant square of the city with no back up until Team JNPR and CFVY came along, along with some other allies such as Sun and Neptune (‘who’s Neptune?’ Oscar had asked, and the moment Blake said ‘you should ask Weiss,’ the ex-heiress stood up faster than Ruby would use her semblance and screamed some gibberish before sitting down again and sipping from her cup.).

 

When prompted to give some backstory by Nora, Oscar began to tell them a little bit about his farm back at home - how it was always warm, how he would wake up at the crack of dawn to do his chores, how before the train, he’d only had a couple of encounters with small grimm at the farm.

 

“And you’re a natural at fighting grimm? That’s not fair.” Nora had replied with a huff, sitting back on the couch and crossing her arms.

 

Ruby didn’t even know how long they were talking and laughing and bantering for, but what felt felt like minutes later, Qrow walked into the living room with his hair sticking up in seventeen different directions and pointing to a time on his scroll - 12:17 am.

 

Yup. It was time for bed.

 

The silver-eyed female managed to catch Oscar before he headed into his room. She stood in front of him, rocking on her heels with a smile.

 

“Y’know, I really enjoyed talking with you today - you’re a really fun person!” She said as Oscar blinked twice, a visible blush forming on his face.

 

“O-oh! W-well, thank you. You’re really fun too, Ruby.” He replied, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear. Snickering, Ruby reached over and ruffled his hair affectionately as he squeaked.

 

“Man, it feels nice to not be the youngest one now.” She laughed when Oscar made a noise that was a mix between a ‘hey’ and a ‘what’ and put her hands up. “I kid, I kid! Goodnight, Oscar.” Ruby smiled, and her heart fluttered when he smiled timidly back.

 

“Goodnight, Ruby.”

 

She watched as he walked into his room, gave her one last lopsided smile and closed the door. It was only then when she allowed herself to bury her red face in her hands, a small groan escaping her lips.

 

How someone could be that adorable was beyond her comprehension. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again - ideas would be much appriciated !


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Oscar discovers his semblance !!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hewwo :00  
> this chapter is long, as promised !!  
> this idea was from AngelofMuses, so thank you to them for that !!   
> and i'm not good at writing fighting scenes so i'm sorry  
> but let me explain myself.  
> so i figured that since's oscar's upbringing had a lot to do with nature and farming and the outdoors and stuff, i thought that his semblance would have something to do with nature!  
> so enjoy !!

Oscar was still fascinated by the snow.

 

Call him crazy, call him stupid, call him boring. But the snow just… enthralled him. He would probably get over it in the next few days, but for now, he just wanted to enjoy the wonder of looking at something so white and so cold.

 

Maybe that was why he was curled up in a blanket, sitting next to the big window in the living room and watching the snow fall at 3:30 in the morning. He couldn’t sleep anyway - so if he couldn’t sleep, why couldn’t he just enjoy what he liked?

 

Ozpin was silent, thankfully, as Oscar watched the snowflakes flutter to the ground gracefully. It seemed as if Ozpin didn’t want to disturb the comfortable, silent stillness of this moment. Oscar really didn’t get a lot of chances to be at peace - his growing anxiety didn’t allow him to - so he just wanted to enjoy this while it lasted.

 

The freckled boy snuggled into his blanket a bit more, leaning against the cold window and not caring that it was cold. He wondered if the snow was ever going to stop and melt and let out a small sigh, looking down at his lap.

 

**_...New experiences tend to be one of the best things in life._ **

 

Ozpin said softly. Oscar smiled to himself, his hazel eyes flickering back to the white snow. “...Yeah. You’re right.” Oscar whispered in reply, wringing his hands together.

 

**_I’m glad you’re enjoying this, Oscar. It’s nice to see you at peace._ **

 

Oscar could feel the happiness radiating from Ozpin; his cheeks heated up as he turned to face the living room, grateful for the comfortable silence that wrapped around him like a second blanket. “...I’m happy to be at peace.” He whispered back, and Ozpin chuckled.

 

**_It’s rather adorable hearing you try to whisper, Oscar._ **

 

_W-wait, am I being too loud?_

 

**_Not at all. You just seem so genuine._ **

 

Ozpin sounded a little sad when he said that, but Oscar decided not to comment. Instead, he pouted, standing up, leaving the shades open and moving to sit down on the couch.

 

**_...You’re going to sit on the couch?_ **

 

_Yeah. It was cold over there._

 

Oscar sat down and, once again, curled himself up in the blanket, yawning He sat in silence for a bit, watching as the snow flittered down and disappeared into the endless void of white. Ozpin made a soft noise of happiness as Oscar began to nod off. Then the area near his feet dipped, and the boy forced himself to sit up and look at who sat on the couch, blearily muttering ‘what?’ His mutter was met with a chuckle, and an arm wrapped around his shoulder and pulled him in close. He didn’t mind the contact, but it startled him a bit. Too bad his brain was taking a bit too long to catch up to him. Oscar made a small noise of confusion as the person chuckled again.

 

“You have a bed for a reason, kiddo.”

 

Oh. It’s Qrow. Oscar smiled to himself and cuddled a bit closer to Qrow, who ruffled his hair in response.

 

‘I know,” Oscar replied quietly, his eyes flickering back to the window. “I just wanted to watch the snow for a bit. It’s satisfying.” The huntsman nodded in agreement, looking towards the window himself. “It’s relaxing, too.”

 

“I agree it’s relaxing, kiddo, but it’s 4 in the morning. Why are you up?”

 

“I could ask you the same thing.” Oscar huffed, his cheeks turning slightly red. Qrow shrugged, rolling his eyes playfully.

 

“Yeah, but I asked you first.”

 

**_He has you there, Oscar. I should make sure that you get more sleep…_ **

 

_Oh, be quiet._

 

“...U-uh, I just couldn’t fall asleep.” Oscar answered truthfully, pulling the blanket tighter around himself. “It happens all the time, though, so I’m not worried.” He let out a soft sigh. “Now you answer me.”

 

“I woke up because a certain farm boy was talking to himself again.”

 

_I told you I was being too loud!_

 

**_Pardon me, Oscar, but I can’t control the volume of your voice._ **

 

“...Sorry. I’ll shut up so that you can go to sleep.” The freckled boy muttered, kind of annoyed with himself. If he was speaking too loudly, maybe he woke the others up. He shouldn’t interrupt everyone’s well-earned sleep with his own voice.

 

Qrow blinked, and even though Oscar couldn’t see him, he made a face. “...Don’t worry about it, kid. You’re too hard on yourself.” Oscar gave a small huff, closing his eyes again.

 

**_He’s right. Don’t push yourself down when you didn’t do anything wrong._ **

 

Despite his brain screaming at him to make a case for himself, he let out a sigh, fiddling with the hem of his oversized orange shirt. “...Right. Sorry. I just want to make sure you get enough sleep, y’know?”

 

“I could say the same for you, kiddo.” Qrow pulled him tighter towards himself, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He fell silent for a moment before speaking again. “I could fall asleep like this, though.” His tone of voice was rather fond, and Ozpin chuckled.

 

**_...He’s such a dad._ **

 

_Tell me about it._

 

(Not that this was relevant, but Ozpin had made the same quip after Qrow made sure he was bundled up enough yesterday. He made the quip after his laughing fit, though.)

 

“...Me too.” The freckled boy replied, suppressing a yawn. Much like before, he was beginning to nod off, his vision blurring and then focusing again as his eyes slowly closed. Qrow chuckled and ran his fingers through Oscar’s hair like he did when the boy was sick. In his sleepy-haze, he accidentally muttered out, ‘goodnight, dad.’, and Qrow looked as if he were about to burst. He smiled as Oscar completely relaxed against him.

 

“‘Night, son.”

 

___________________________________________________________

 

Oscar’s eyes slowly fluttered open as he yawned, waking up from his slumber. He mumbled something about eating to himself and slowly sat up, untangling the blanket from his legs and arms. He then blinked, finally realizing that Qrow was right next to him. Oh, that’s right! He fell asleep on the couch last night with Qrow. He rubbed his eyes and stood up, wincing a bit when his joints cracked.

 

**_Good morning, Oscar._ **

 

_Good morning, Oz._

 

**_Did you sleep well?_ **

 

_Yeah. I’m going to go make myself some hot chocolate now - is that okay?_

 

**_Of course. You don’t have to ask my permission to do that, Oscar._ **

 

Oscar bounded into the kitchen, read the clock (7:43 am? Jeez-), and began to make his hot chocolate as quietly as he could. He hadn’t had much of an appetite recently, so he decided not to get anything to eat and began to explore the house. He wouldn’t go upstairs because he assumed everyone was still asleep, so he decided to explore the basement. It was noticeably colder, and the dip in temperature made a shiver go down Oscar’s spine. Instead of getting a blanket, however, he walked around the big basement, looking in awe at the fancy hardwood floors and the decorations. It had the theme of the color grey with hints of dark blue and dark orange sprinkled all over the place. Humming in content, Oscar moved to stand in the middle of the room, taking a sip from his hot chocolate.

 

**_It’s nice to see you appreciate visually pleasing places like me._ **

 

_Atlas is so pretty. It has all these giant glass statues and snow and all these nice decorations and rooms, and the buildings are amazing…_ Oscar sat down on the floor, curling in on himself a bit. He couldn’t help but feel small in this big room. _It’s… it’s a big step up from home._

 

**_I know. New experiences can be scary…_** Ozpin stopped, as if he was pondering on something. **_But they’re the best. It shows what to do and what not to do in a situation. It helps you meet new people, helps you get used to things, and it helps you learn. You’ll learn a lot in Atlas, just how you learned a low in Mistral. Knowledge knows no limits, Oscar. It’s up to you what you choose to do with that knowledge._**

 

Oscar looked down at the floor, biting his lower lip. All these new experiences would be rather frightening… but if he was going to get exposed to new things, he’d better get prepared. He was here for a reason, and he if he didn’t prepare himself now, he’d get left behind. That’s how it worked, right? He just had to focus on not being the weakest link. The farm boy slowly got up and took another sip of his hot chocolate, a newfound determination sparking in him. The meeting with Ironwood would be productive and it would turn out okay, and everything would be okay.

 

Just another new experience under his belt, right?

 

Well, it didn’t really go as planned. Qrow woke up a few hours later when everyone was joining in the kitchen for some breakfast with a scowl, announcing that Ironwood had moved their meeting to the end of the week because he was busy. Surprisingly, no one was really that annoyed. Ozpin gave a small huff of annoyance and Weiss rolled her eyes, but this information really didn’t seem to draw forward any negative energy. In fact, Nora was excited about this cancellation. She was ready to go make snow angels and have snowball fights again, and honestly, Oscar was all for it.

 

Half an hour later and after a speech from Qrow, who was going outside as well to “kick their butts in a snowball fight”, everyone was outside, doing their thing and throwing snowballs around. Oscar decided to sit this snowball fight out and make a snowman instead, rolling snow into balls with Ozpin’s help. He would get the hang of this soon. Hopefully.

 

He stepped back to admire his work, a grin on his face. Making a snowman was less fun when you were doing it alone, but it was still fun. Ozpin chuckled when Oscar wrapped his scarf around the snowman again and used small stones he found as the eyes and the mouth. The only problem was that the snowman didn’t have a nose. Maybe he could use a stick? Or maybe he could use another rock…

 

“Hey! That was a face shot! That’s not fair!” Yang’s voice made the farm boy turn around. He grimaced when he saw Yang glaring at Nora, her eyes red. Nora stuck her tongue out at Yang in reply, like a child, and rolled her eyes.

 

“Get over it! It was an accident! No need to overreact!”

 

“Then I get to hit you in the face with a snowball.”

 

“No, you don’t!”

 

“Calm down!” Ruby exclaimed with a huff, puffing her cheeks out. “It’s just a game! There’s not need-”

 

“Stay out of it!”

 

Wow. They were really taking the snowball fight seriously, huh?

 

**_It’s nice to see they still have spirit._** Ozpin said with a chuckle, and Oscar nodded in agreement. _I just think they need to calm down-_

 

He then stopped because he thought he heard a growl. Oscar blinked and swallowed nervously, slowly turning around to face the woods. A pair of red eyes flashed at him, and he couldn’t help the surge of panic that crashed over him like a wave. What were grimm doing so close to the house? They were attracted to negative emotions, but the girls were just playfully fighting, right? There wasn’t any malice behind it, right?

 

He stayed still for a moment, just to test if the eyes came back, and sure enough, when Nora yelled something about being extra, the eyes came back, but this time, there were…

 

Multiple pairs of eyes.

 

**_Oscar-_ **

 

“Guys!” Jaune’s exclamation stopped everything as a pack of beowolves slowly crawled out of the forest, growling. Oscar stumbled back towards the group as the grimm began to pick up in speed.

 

“We don’t have enough time to get our weapons-” Jaune spoke nervously, and Yang cut him off, cracking her knuckle.

 

“Then we do this the old-fashioned way.”

 

The old-fashioned way? Oscar just got finished getting used to Ozpin’s cane - how was he going to be powerful enough to punch some grimm?

 

“I can run in and grab all your weapons.” He offered quietly, growing increasingly panicked as the grimm approached almost laughably slow.

 

“Good idea. Go!” Qrow’s cue was all he needed. The moment he started sprinting back to the house, the beowolves ran forward, snarling and roaring. He was so close he was so close-

 

Oscar let out a cry of alarm and stumbled back when two grimm moved to stand in front of him, blocking the way to the door. He was literally three steps away from the door! He huffed in annoyance and curled his hands into fists, prepared to fight his way out of this one.

 

**_Allow me?_ **

 

Ozpin asked, and Oscar was happy to let him take the reins. He offered some warnings and encouragement to Ozpin as he fought, relieved that he could now get everyone’s weapon. Oscar snapped back into control as Ozpin let out a small sigh, muttering something about energy. However, he had no time to worry about that because he was running into the house and getting everyone’s weapons in waves. He probably cut himself multiple times getting everyone’s weapons, but the job was done nonetheless. He stumbled outside and thought about how to get the weapons to everyone. Luckily, Qrow, Nora, Ren and Jaune swooped in and got their weapons right away. Blake was taking her weapon shortly after, and then Ruby came in in a burst of petals and winked at him before zooming away to fight some grimm, taking both her and Weiss’ weapons with her.

 

Then Oscar came to the realization that he didn’t grab the cane. He yelled ‘idiot!’ out loud in frustration and turned to run back to the house ( _how were you so stupid not to get your own weapon Oscar?!_ ), but he was forced to roll out of the way when a beowolf came right at him.

 

“Oscar- Ah!” Ruby’s cry of alarm filled the air as her weapon was slapped out of her hands.

 

There were so many of them; this was so overwhelming. Oscar scrambled back and stood up quickly, his hands curling into fists. He could feel that Ozpin was exhausted, so he’d have to fight his own way out of this-

 

“Ah!”

 

“Weiss!”

 

Oscar’s head snapped to the side to find Weiss on the ground and Ruby rushing to get over to her teammate. How did things snowball so quickly? He stumbled back again, directing his attention back to the beowolf in front of him.

 

**_Short steps, deep breaths. Keep a level head and make sure the punch is as accurate as possible. You’re okay._ **

 

Ozpin encouraged softly. Oscar didn’t even reply - he just went in. He punched the grimm right in the nose then moved back again, dodged a slash and punched again, this time hitting the grimm right smack in the face. He smiled a little bit to himself, and once he had the monster stumbling back, he went in for another one.

 

This small period of grace was over in a second.

 

Something shoved him to the ground, and now he was on the ground, cold snow running down his back and getting in his eyes.

 

****_Oscar!_  
  


“Oscar!”

 

He didn’t want to die like this he really didn’t want to die like this he wanted to live he wanted to live _he wanted everyone to live -_

 

A sudden surge of power filled his veins as he curled his hands into fists, snow bunching into his palms. Then the ground shook for three seconds, and big, green vines wrapped around every single one of the grimm in the open. For a second, Oscar felt nothing - no tension, no fear, no panic - he felt numb. Like time stopped. He then looked up to find Ruby, staring at him in awe and fear, and then every emotion he was feeling came crashing onto him again.

 

Seconds later, all that filled the air was grimm dust.

 

Everything was silent. Nothing and no one moved.

 

**_...Oscar, you-_ **

 

Ozpin started, but Oscar wasn’t listening. Black spots danced in his vision as he slowly sat on his knees, his breaths shaky and erratic. Someone laughed nervously - he didn’t know who - but that was the least of his worries right now. He felt himself beginning to tip forwards, slowly…. Slowly…

 

He didn’t even feel the cold snow on his cheek or hear all the screams of his name as he drifted into unconsciousness.

 

___________________________________________________________________________

 

The first thing Oscar thought when he came too was a tier 2 swear, to which Ozpin immediately huffed indignantly.

 

**_As much as I am glad to see you awake again, Oscar, I’m going to have to ask you to watch your language._ **

 

Oscar bit back a sassy remark and let out a small groan, trying to rack his brain for memories on what happened. There was a wet towel on his forehead and he was covered in a mountain of blankets. He blinked, very confused as to what just transpired.

 

**_Well, we think you… unlocked your semblance._ **

 

“My… my semblance?” Oh, right. Everything came flooding back to him at once. The vines, the grimm… the overwhelming sense of panic. Was that really his semblance, though? He had gone his whole life thinking that he would never unlock his semblance and be nothing more than a farmhand. Look at him now. He felt a swell of pride in him as he removed the towel from his forehead and dug himself out of the mountain of blankets.

 

**_I’m… quite proud of you, Oscar. You faced a grimm by yourself with nothing but your wits and fists. Then, you unlocked your semblance. I’m very, very proud._ **

 

Oscar smiled to himself, wishing that he could just give Ozpin a hug. Instead, he opted for the sincerest ‘thank you’ he could muster. Ozpin chuckled in reply.

 

**_It’s no problem, Oscar. I mean it from the bottom of my heart._ **

 

The farm boy stood up and let out a happy sigh, making his way to the door on wobbling legs. Do people usually pass out when they use their semblance for the first time? He didn’t think that was how semblances worked, right?

 

**_No, they usually don’t. I just think you used it a bit too abruptly. Maybe it was just… too much energy at once, as well. Either way, you shouldn’t worry._ **

 

“...Okay. If you say so.” Oscar murmured. He opened the door and cautiously stepped out, frowning when he found that the house was completely silent. And it wasn’t like it was night time, either - it wasn’t dark yet. Oscar made his way to the living room, very confused. Ozpin seemed confused as well, because he was completely silent as well.

 

What he saw in the living room made a warm feeling burst in his chest.

 

Everyone was sleeping on the couch, under a blanket, all curled up and snuggled with one another. It was like a big cuddle pile.

 

**_How precious._ **

 

Oscar made a small noise in agreement, a grin on his face. He then noticed a scroll on the kitchen counter and went to pick it up, getting excited when he found out it was Ruby’s scroll. She gave him her password in case he ever needed to use her scroll, and it would come in handy this time.

 

Ozpin actually laughed when Oscar stood in front of the couch and took a picture of the cuddle pile. He put the scroll back where he found it and let out a soft sigh, deciding to sit on the kitchen counter and think a bit more on… what the hell his semblance was.

 

Vines? Ground shaking? What even what that?

 

**_I’ve had a while to ponder on this myself. If I had to take a guess, I’d say it’s something nature-related, obviously. Perhaps nature manipulation?_ **

 

_Sounds reasonable. I guess it has something to do with my upbringing, too… If I use it again, will I just crash like that again?_

 

**_No, I don’t believe you will. You just have to learn how to… control it. Harness it. Learn how to use it and when to use it. There are a lot of things that come with semblance, Oscar, and you must learn. But for now…_** Oscar could practically hear the man smiling. **_You deserve your rest. I’d like to say again that I’m very, very proud of you-_**

 

“Oscar!” An exclamation of his name interrupted Ozpin and snapped Oscar out of whatever daze he fell into. His eyes flickered up from his lap to meet silver ones, and to meet a bright grin. “I’m glad to see you’re okay.” Ruby sounded so sincere, and Oscar could feel his cheeks heating up. He hopped off the counter as Ruby clapped her hands together. “You. Were. Amazing!” She whisper-yelled. “I didn’t know you could do that! But honestly, you gave us such a scare when you passed out!”

 

“Heh… I didn’t know I could do that either.” Oscar responded quietly, rubbing the back on his neck. “And… I-I’m, um, sorry for worrying you.” The female snorted and waved her hand.

 

“It’s fine! There’s never a dull day with us, huh?” She giggled, and Oscar’s heart fluttered. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

 

“Thanks… by the way, I took a photo of your little cuddle pile.” He gestured over to the couch where everyone else was still sleeping. “How did you manage to wiggle your way out of that?” Ruby smirked and picked up her scroll, snickering when she saw the photo.

 

“Well, I have my ways of doing things.”

 

“So, you’re saying you’re small.”

 

Ruby gawked, her eyes widening. Then she pouted and glared at him playfully, crossing her arms. “Excuse me Mr. I’m-probably-4-inches-shorter-than-Ruby! You’re literally up to, like, the beginning of my neck! So, I wouldn’t be talking!” She stuck her tongue out and Oscar snickered, covering his mouth to muffle his laughs.

 

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry.” Oscar put his hands up in surrender. “You should at least thank me for the photo.” Ruby huffed and rolled her eyes but reached out and ruffled Oscar’s hair despite his squeak in protest.

 

“Thank you, Oscar.” She said begrudgingly. He grinned triumphantly, and Ruby laughed again. “Now come on- I’m kind of nervous you’re just going to kneel over and just… just follow me. We’re joining the cuddle pile again.” She took his hand and dragged him back to the couch, where everyone laid still. Somehow. Oscar let Ruby drag him to the right side of the couch and he watched as she got under the blankets and snuggled up against Yang. After a couple of seconds of uncertainty, Ruby huffed and lifted the blanket, gesturing for him to get under the blanket. “C’mon! We’re all one big family in here.” Ruby whispered. Despite his mind screaming at him not to, he slowly crawled onto the couch and pulled the blankets over him. Once he got Ruby’s smile of satisfaction, he allowed himself to curl up against the armrest and closed his eyes.

 

**_...Rest, Oscar. You deserve it._ **

 

When he woke up again, everyone was crowding around him for some reason. He muttered a small, nervous ‘hello?’, and everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.

 

“How are you feeling, Oscar?” Ren asked, rubbing the boy’s shoulder.

 

“...U-um, I’m feeling fine. Just a little… um… claustrophobic.” He replied. He swallowed a laugh when everyone shuffled back sheepishly. Oscar allowed himself to relax, letting out a soft sigh. “I’m sorry for passing out - did any other grimm come?” Nora blinked as if he was crazy.

 

“You’re _sorry?_ Gee, Oscar, there’s no need to be sorry! You… like… made the ground shake and vines grow like… whoosh!” She imitated the vines coming out of the ground and then made a small explosion noise, prompting Oscar to scrunch up his nose and giggle.

 

“I’m glad I impressed you, I guess.” He said with a small shrug.

 

“We’re just glad you’re okay.” Blake chimed in. “Is there anything we can get you?” Oscar shook his head, pulling the blanket closer to him.

 

“No thank you. But thanks.” He smiled lopsidedly, and then yelped when Qrow practically jumped onto the couch right next to him and pulled him into a hug.

 

“Okay, kid, I love you, but you can’t be a miracle man and then just pass out on us like that. So please don’t do that again.” Oscar short-circuited for a second before shaking himself out of it and smiling up at Qrow, a small giggle escaping his lips.

 

“Sorry, Qrow. I promise I won’t do it again.” Qrow rolled his eyes in exasperation.

 

“Why are you so nice and obedient?”

 

“I was raised that way.”

 

Qrow couldn’t help but smile, his eyes lighting up with happiness. “After you recuperate, I’ll help you train and work on your hand-to-hand combat, and your newest ability - your semblance. So, get ready, yeah?”

 

Oscar nodded, now more determined than ever to improve himself. “Of course.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Oscar and Qrow have a training session

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello :00  
> im a writing machine lmao im so inspired right now !!  
> i'm very amused by one part of v6c6 - while everyone was screaming and giving up on life, oscar was just... fixing a tire and minding his own business.   
> thats great  
> anyway !! this idea was given to me by apatheticxaesthetic, so thank you to them for that !!  
> and i didn't edit this one so if you see any mistakes, give me a heads-up !!  
> enjoy !

**_Duck!_ **

 

Oscar did as instructed and swerved out of the way just in time. This was more difficult than he imagined. The only hardcore-training he’d had was the one with Ruby, and even then he got absolutely destroyed, so he had to make sure that he didn’t this time around. 

 

(There was also that time with Nora, but he got destroyed too so he didn’t like to talk about that.)

 

**_Good. Keep your focus, Oscar. Keep your breathing in check and always look for an opening._ **

 

He liked having someone reminding him to breathe sometimes. It helped a lot - especially in situations like these. Training always made him super nervous and anxious, so the reminder was always welcome. He dodged out of the way of another punch and dover forward, delivering a punch to Qrow’s chest. The other stumbled back, blinked in surprise then laughed. 

 

“I’m seeing lots of improvement, kid. Let’s keep going; you’re doing great.”

 

Oscar beamed and curled his hands into fists again, bending his knees a little bit and adjusting his posture like Ozpin always said to. Qrow did the same and soon, they were throwing punches yet again. Training was rather hard - he knew that the other person really didn’t want to hit him, but did so that they could improve. And he didn’t want to hit the other person, but did so that he could improve. 

 

Just like right now, when Qrow landed a good blow on his arm. Ouch. 

 

Ozpin hummed, but didn’t say anything. Oscar swerved out of the way again, tried for another punch, but failed and got another blow on his arm. The boy gritted his teeth in frustration (he was frustrated at himself for not being able to land a single damn blow) and continued to move out of the way, dodging this was and that.

 

**_While your reflexes are admirable, Oscar, you’re going to have to land a punch. Remember to stay focused and look for a small opening - it doesn’t matter how small it is. Just go for it._ **

 

_ Got it. _

 

With another deep breath, Oscar steeled himself and went in, surprisingly landing another punch to the chest. It went like this - going back and forth with punches and dodging. Oscar was kind of disappointed when Qrow called for a break (he was just getting into his groove!) but sat down anyway, reaching for the bottle of water Nora had supplied him. Qrow chuckled when Oscar chugged at least half of the bottle without stopping.

 

“You’re really working yourself, huh, kid?” He took of sip of his own water and smiled. “You’ve improved a lot.” Oscar couldn’t help but beam happily. His arms and knuckles were littered with 

 

**_He’s right. Just a little more practice and you’ll be set._ **

 

Qrow tapped his foot, looking up at the clock on the wall before looking back down at the farm boy, who drank more of his water. He seemed to ponder on something for a second before patting Oscar on the shoulder.

 

“Alright, kiddo. Let’s go outside so that you can try to get a handle on your semblance. A small patch of snow melted, so I’m hoping to put that space into good use.” Oscar got up and stretched out before nodded, a spark of determination in his eyes. 

 

“Alright. I’m ready to go.” 

 

The two headed outside and stood in the small patch of grass that was peeking out in the midst of all the snow. Qrow looked around, putting his hand to his chin like he was thinking. “Your semblance has to do with… vines and nature, right?” 

 

“Right.” 

 

“Hmm… well, for starters, what did you do to trigger it?” 

 

Oscar almost snorted. “Well, I was well on my way to having a panic attack when it happened.” He said with a joking tone. When Qrow looked more concerned than amused, he coughed into his hand and apologized. “What I meant to say was, I was under a lot of stress and I just wanted everyone to live, y’know? And then… woosh.” He threw his arms in front of him half-heartedly as he said ‘woosh’, putting as little effort into the ‘woosh’ as possible. That got a small smile out of Qrow.

 

“Can you… try to access your emotions from that day? We’ll start with that.” 

 

“Okay.. okay!” Oscar took a deep breath and closed his eyes, his heart rate already jumping up just thinking about the events.  **_Breathe._ ** People almost died two days ago. That thought made him shudder violently. When Ruby got her weapon slapped out of her hand, when Weiss was on the floor, when he heard Jaune cry out in  pain… when he forgot his own cane. That was scary  **_(Oscar-)_ ** . And then when he was on the ground, the snow soaking into his shirt and making him shiver and when he knew a beowolf was standing over him, just waiting to kill him, and he would’ve died if it weren’t for that pure, unexpected miracle of his semblance and everyone else would’ve been overwhelmed by the grimm and -

 

“Kid!” Qrow’s voice snapped him out of whatever thought-spiral he was jumping head-first into. “I didn’t mean for you to work yourself up. Take a couple of deep breaths. We’ll try something else.” Oscar nodded, pretending that he wasn’t gasping for air. 

 

**_Remember the feather if you need it. That was in the past. You’re fine._ **

 

_ I’m fine. _

 

“Alright, so that didn’t work.” Qrow muttered with a huff when Oscar was calm enough to continue. He seemed at a loss of what to do.  _ Oz, what should we do? _

 

**_Hm… well, perhaps you could touch the ground first. If you made those vines come from the ground, then I’d imagine you’d have to be touching it. In due time, you won’t need to, but do it for now._ **

 

Oscar slowly lowered himself to the ground and touched the grass. Qrow looked confused, and he opened his mouth to say something - and probably did - but Oscar wasn’t listening. He could feel Oz smiling as he continued.

 

**_Now… this might seem like a bad idea, but try channeling those emotions you felt. Just list them out for me._ **

 

_ I was… scared. Panicked. Shocked. _

 

**_Close your eyes. Concentrate._ **

 

Oscar obeyed, blocking out everything around him. Qrow took a small step back, watching the freckled boy curiously. All the emotions that Oscar was feeling came right back to him and he took a deep breath, determined not to let them overflood him again. If he was going to help out on the battlefield and get better, he had to keep his emotions in check. Everything was fine, he told himself. Everything was just fine.

 

**_Breathe._ **

 

He took a deep breath in. Then, it was as if time had stopped again. He felt numb, much like he did the first time it happened. Oscar slowly opened his eyes, and hazel orbs met red. He felt himself smiling, and instead of all those negative emotions he was feeling, they were replaced with happiness and warm feelings. The ground began to shake slightly, and small, rather harmless vines slowly creeped out from the ground. It was a very big difference from two days ago. Despite the fact that he was just hit with a wave of dizziness, Oscar stood up and held his hand out towards one of the vines. 

 

(He didn’t know - it just felt like the right thing to do.)

 

To his surprise, the vine wrapped around his arm gently and shook it slightly, as if it was giving him a hand shake. He giggled and scrunched up his nose as the vine slowly unwrapped itself and went back into the ground. One by one, the small vines went back into the ground and there were no holes; as if nothing happened. 

 

“Well… what do you know - woah!” Qrow started to say something, but it was snuffed out by his concerned exclamation. He quickly moved forward and wrapped an arm around Oscar, steadying him and keeping him from falling. The boy blinked slowly, trying to get the black spots out of his vision. He kept his breathing steady as Ozpin always instructed. “Why don’t we go inside and have some hot coco? I can get you patched up, too.” Qrow offered with a small smile. Oscar gulped and nodded, not finding it in himself to speak. “Alright. Can you walk?”

 

Qrow ended up having to carry Oscar back.

 

At first, Oscar was a bit discouraged (how weak can you possibly be?), but he remembered that things take time. He’d figure this semblance thing out and then he would help out in battle more. He would figure out how to throw proper punches and then he’d be set. He just needed to take things slow and steady.

 

**_That’s right. You’re really maturing, Oscar._ **

 

The pride of Ozpin’s voice made Oscar want to cry.

 

**_I said this before, and I should say if more often - I’m so proud of you._ **

 

Oscar wrapped his arms around himself as if that was the equivalent to hugging Ozpin. The man inside his head chuckled, and he wasn’t sure if it was just him, but he could feel the light touch of… something on his shoulder.

 

**_I’m really glad to have met you, Oscar._ **

 

_...In some weird way, me too. _

 

“Ruby!” Qrow called as he walked in the house, snapping Oscar out of whatever daze he was just in. Three seconds later, the silver-eyed female came barreling into the room, her hair sticking up in thirteen different directions and a bright grin on her face. The huntsman raised an eyebrow at her, and her smile faltered when she saw Oscar. “Are you okay? You’re as white as a sheet of paper! And… oh, were you training?” Ruby smiled weakly and let out a soft sigh when Oscar replied with a nod. “I’ll make some hot chocolate. I bet that’s what you’re craving right now.” She added a wink at the end and bounded to the kitchen, leaving Oscar a blushing mess. Qrow huffed and pretended not to hear the screech of ‘WEISS’ from the kitchen.

 

Qrow set Oscar down on the couch and ruffled his hair. “I’ll be right back - try not to stand up, yeah?” 

 

“Wouldn’t dream out it.” Oscar replied tiredly, slumping against the armrest of the couch. 

 

Qrow scoffed playfully and left, presumably going to get some bandages. Oscar deflated, reaching for the random blanket on the floor and pulling it over himself. He was so tired. Maybe if he could close his eyes for a bit…

 

“I’m back!” Qrow announced, and Oscar snapped back up. The grey-haired male snorted and knelt beside the farm boy, holding bandages in his hands. “Alright. Show me where you have bruises, kiddo.” 

 

5 minutes later, Oscar’s arms and knuckles were wrapped in white bandages. He flexed his fingers awkwardly, not liking how the bandages restricted his movement. This was weird. Qrow snorted yet again and plopped himself down next to the boy, leaving the bandages on the coffee table. And like iron to a magnet, Oscar was immediately curled up against Qrow’s side, a tired sigh escaping his lips. Qrow smiled fondly and wrapped an arm around him in response, letting Oscar cling to him like velcro on a soft sweater. Ruby and Weiss came in shortly after, each of them holding a mug of hot chocolate.

 

“Here we are! I made them all by myself!” Ruby boasted, ignoring the fiery glare from her partner. “Weiss just helped me carry them in.” Weiss cleared her throat rather loudly, and Ruby laughed nervously. “Can we get a ‘thank you Weiss’ up in here?”

 

Qrow rolled his eyes playfully and thanked the girls. After a small giggle and a tired wave, the two were gone. Qrow shifted so that Oscar could be a bit more comfortable and reached for a mug of hot chocolate. Oscar had worked tirelessly throughout the day - it was time for him to take a little break. 

 

To be honest? Qrow was quite proud. 

 

He didn’t say anything, though. He didn’t want to disturb the peaceful stillness of the room, and the comfortable silence that wrapped around them like a blanket. Qrow absentmindedly began to run his fingers through Oscar’s hair; he was always surprised when he found that the boy’s hair was soft. Oscar smiled slightly, opening his eyes just a bit.

 

**_The hot chocolate would make you sleep better._ **

 

Ozpin offered. Oscar slowly sat up and took the second mug of hot chocolate, making sure to blow on it before taking a sip. 

 

“Hey, kid, I thought you were asleep.” Qrow muttered, looking down into his hot chocolate. Oscar gave a small shrug, cradling the mug in his hands. 

 

“I was about to. But then I got the sudden craving for hot chocolate, and lucky me, I have hot chocolate.” Oscar’s words dripped with sleepiness, and Qrow chuckled.

 

“Alright, kiddo. Finish your hot chocolate and try to take a nap. I can tell you’re tired.”

 

“Right.” Oscar took another small sip and rubbed his fingers against the handle. Qrow watched as the farm boy took about 3 sips, put the cup back on the table, settled against him again, and was out like a light. All within 5 minutes. He suppressed a snort and put his own mug of hot chocolate down, moving to pull the blanket a bit more over Oscar’s thin frame. 

 

“Heh. You’ve come a long way, Oscar.” He muttered, allowing himself to relax against the couch.

 

Three seconds later, he was out too.

 

(And if Qrow asked Ruby to send him the photo that she took of the two sleeping, then we’ll just ignore that.) 

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Jaune bonds with Oscar through... an unfortunate event

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI I DID IT  
> i've wanted to make a jaune chapter for like  
> ever  
> and i did it !!  
> i didn't edit this and its a big oof i know but just point any errors out :00  
> also !! there's a panic attack trigger warning so if that's not your cup of tea, i'm sorry, and i promise i'll have more fluff next chapter  
> thank you and enjoy !!

Jaune sat up in his bed, running a hand over his face in exasperation. If he had a single lien for every single sleepless night he had since the fall of Beacon, he’d be a millionaire. The blond let out a soft sigh and plopped back down, being careful not to be too loud and wake up Ren and Nora, who were sleeping in the same bed next to him. Instead of trying to fall back asleep, he began to think.

 

His mind drifted to his family. His seven sisters, to be more exact. He was a little brother and a big brother at the same time, and honestly, it wasn’t so bad. His older siblings had always given him advice and babied him a bit, but he could always pass that information onto his younger siblings. Being an older sibling to a bunch of screaming, reckless girls really taught him how to be patient and protective. They liked to tease him and call it an “older brother instinct”, which, while used as a term to tease him, accurately described how he felt towards people younger than him.

 

Maybe that’s why Jaune always had the urge to wrap Oscar in bubble wrap and keep him safe.

 

He wasn’t that close with the farm boy, no - but he always just… wanted to make sure Oscar was okay. He was too… frustrated with what was in Oscar’s head, but now he realized he was being childish. Oscar was his own person - he realized that a bit too late. He just hoped that he would be able to create a better relationship with Oscar before it got too late.

 

He still remembered how he dropped everything when the boy passed out to run to him. Jaune’s “older brother instincts” kicked in and he  _ ran  _ like he had never run before. He remembered being the first one to the Oscar, the one who carried him in and made sure he laid on his side and his head was elevated. Then he realized how much he missed that feeling.

 

Jaune huffed and rolled over onto his stomach, staring at the headboard of his bed. If he didn’t stop thinking, he would just work himself up, and working yourself up before bed is never a good thing. Jaune leaned to the side to read the time on the clock - 2:46. Yeah. He should probably get some sleep.

 

Before he could fall asleep again, however, he thought he… heard something. Jaune strained to listen, hoping that whatever he was hearing was just his imagination. However, what he heard made him shoot up out of his bed and rush to the door as quietly as he could. 

 

He could hear desperate gasps and choked, stifled sobs and hard footsteps. Then a loud thud. Jaune quickly opened the door and closed it behind him, looking for the source of all the noise. Cautiously, he began to walk down the hall, looking around and biting his lower lip. He peeked around the corner of the wall so that he was looking into the kitchen…

 

And saw none other and Oscar, curled up in the corner of the kitchen, gripping at his shirt and gasping for air. There were tears running down his paler-than-usual face, and the sight tore at Jaune’s heart. He knew he had to do something.

 

The blond slowly stepped out from behind the wall, making sure not to make too much noise. This had happened before - it happened right before they left for Atlas. Oscar had woken up in distress and launched himself into a panic attack much like this one. The only problem was that Jaune didn’t think that he was qualified enough to calm down the boy all by himself, but he’d be damned if he didn’t try.

 

Jaune slowly approached, and Oscar looked up. His breath hitched and he tried to scoot even farther into the corner, so Jaune put his hands up in surrender and took a step back, crouching down as he did so. “It’s okay.” He said softly. “I’m not going to hurt you. I just need you to breathe. Can you do that?” Oscar gasped again, gripping the edge of his shirt so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.

 

“I-I…I-I… I can’t… I-” Oscar sobbed, and the sound made Jaune’s heart ache. 

 

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Jaune soothed, slowly putting his hands down and wincing when Oscar flinched. “You can do it, Oscar. It’s okay - you’re okay.” When the boy let out a shuddering sigh, Jaune began to take exaggerated breaths in and out, hoping that Oscar would follow the example. It took a little bit, but Oscar began to take deeper, slower breaths compared to his breaths before. Good. Progress.

 

“Do you have any way to help this?” Jaune asked after a couple of seconds of breathing. Oscar nodded a bit too quickly for the blond’s liking and gulped. 

 

“U-um… I-I, uh, imagine a-a… a feather.” He mumbled, curling into himself a bit more. This caught Jaune’s attention. He didn’t want to ask for an elaboration, so he just sat down on the floor, crossed his legs and watched as Oscar closed his eyes and began breathing slowly. Everytime he would inhale sharply, Jaune murmured something soothing, and he would go back to breathing slowly. 

 

Then it was silent. Jaune scooted up a bit and tentatively reached out, uncurling Oscar’s fist and releasing his grip on his shirt. The freckled boy opened his eyes, tears pooling in them as he let out a soft whine. He then let out a sob and slowly leaned forward, wrapping his arms around himself as if he was trying to bring himself comfort. The sight broke Jaune’s heart; he was looking for comfort that he didn’t think we would receive. 

 

Trying not to startle him, blonde wrapped his arms gently around Oscar, who immediately clung to him in return to his surprise. Jaune began to slowly rock back and forth, whispering sweet nothings as the scared farm boy cried into his shoulder. Jaune didn’t know what he dreamt about, or if he simply thought himself into this, but he knew one thing - Oscar didn’t deserve any of this. He was just a child; it was pitiful, really. All this stress and anxiety just for someone who randomly planted himself in his head and can’t go away. If it was up to him, Jaune was pretty sure Oscar would run out of here and go back to his farm with his aunt and live the most normal life he could. Who would ask for this?

 

Jaune tightened his hold on Oscar a bit more and the freckled boy responded in kind, clinging onto Jaune like his life depended on it. The blond didn’t care that the floor was cold and uncomfortable (but maybe he should start thinking about moving - Oscar was shaking like a leaf) - he just wanted to make sure that Oscar felt safe. He wanted to make sure Oscar was calm before anything else happened.

 

Jaune remembered that time when one of his younger sisters ran into his room, quietly crying over a bad dream that she had. He remembered helping her calm down by wrapping her in a blanket and telling her stories to get her mind off of it until she was calm enough to go back to sleep. That’s exactly what he was going to do.

 

With a small grunt, Jaune slowly stood up with Oscar in his arms, who seemed to jump and cling onto him impossibly tighter, whimpering. 

 

“Shhh, shhh, it’s okay,” Jaune whispered, cradling Oscar like a baby. “I’m just moving you to the couch.” 

 

Once settled on the couch, the blond pulled a blanket around the two of them and tried to reassuringly smile at Oscar, who had calmed from crying. “You know… I could tell you some stories. From Beacon. If… if you want.” He said softly, his smile becoming more certain when Oscar nodded meekly. “Well… let me tell you how I actually got into Beacon, first.” 

 

Jaune was still kind of embarrassed about this story. It’s true that he didn’t exactly get into Beacon like how he was supposed to, but he think Ozpin already knew that. It really made him wonder why he was accepted into the school in the first place.

 

(He hated how he used to look up to Ozpin. How did things change so quickly?)

 

Although his thoughts didn’t match his tone of voice and his words, he was relieved to hear Oscar stifling giggles from time to time. This was actually working. “Okay, so, that’s how I got into Beacon. But, what happened after that was an absolute mess. Do you want to hear it?” He asked, feeling himself grin when Oscar nodded multiple times. “Alright - I have to warn you, though. It’s not pretty.” 

 

Jaune began to tell the story of his first days - everything from the landing strategy to Cardin. Everything from first seeing Nora’s semblance to getting hit in the head with a spoon from Pyrrha (he tried to ignore the ache in his heart when he mentioned her name.). Oscar listened intently, and whenever he would shudder or give a soft whine, Jaune would stop and rub small circles into his back, waiting until he knew Oscar was okay before starting again. 

 

“And… yeah. My team was great. We had a lot… a lot of good times.” Jaune finally finished, staring at the ceiling wistfully. Oscar shifted slightly, seeming nervous.

 

“U-um… Mr. Jaune? What happened… what happened to Pyrrha?” The boy asked uncertainly, wincing slightly when Jaune let out a soft huff. The blond smiled bitterly, keeping himself from snapping. His thoughts always turned angry whenever he thought of Pyrrha. He was always looking for someone to blame, and his mind always shifted to Ozpin as the one to blame. 

 

But he knew he couldn’t say that.

 

“Well… she went to go face off against that girl that we saw at Haven. You know - the one dressed in red? She tried to stop her, but… tragically lost her life.” He was about to change the subject, but he couldn’t help but ask ‘what’s wrong’ when he noticed that Oscar’s face turned about three shades paler.

 

“W-what… w-what did she look like?” Oscar asked, his voice shaking. Jaune’s chest tightened to the point where he had to force himself to take deep breaths. 

 

“She… she had red hair. Pale skin. Green eyes. She had a red sash and golden armor…” Jaune replied, watching as that panicked look in Oscar’s eyes came back. “B-but, hey! It’s okay! Don’t think too much about it -”

 

“I-I saw her.” Oscar cut Jaune off, his voice hollow. Jaune involuntarily shuddered, not liking how his tone of voice changed so drastically in such a short period of time. “In my dream. I saw her. She was… screaming. I don’t know what. She was crying, too. She was screaming, but I couldn’t hear her. I-I…” He took a deep breath and forced himself to continue, despite Jaune’s silent protests. “She looked so sad. T-then she looked behind her, screamed again, a-and… I-I think Salem stepped out. A-and she was s-so calm at first, b-but it was just-”

 

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Jaune soothed, rubbing circles into the boy’s back again. “You don’t have to go on. Just breathe, okay?” The last thing they needed was Oscar working himself up again. “It’s over now.” 

 

Oscar slumped against the blond, sniffling and shaking. “I’m sorry.” He whispered brokenly, and Jaune pretended that tears didn’t try to push their way out of his eyes. He desperately wanted to reassure Oscar and tell him it wasn’t his fault, but something completely different came out.

 

“Yeah… me too.” Jaune tried not to let his voice crack as Oscar stifled a small sob, and the freckled boy curled up into himself. “It’s okay, Oscar.”

 

“Everything is going to be okay.”

 

______________________________________________________________________

 

Jaune honestly didn’t realize he fell asleep. He remembered comforting a crying Oscar, trying not to cry himself, but that was it. 

 

Speaking of Oscar…

 

The brunet was laying against him, asleep with tear marks still on his cheeks. They must’ve fallen asleep on the couch. He didn’t know what time they fell asleep, or what time it was for that matter, but he was fine with it. It was just that his legs were beginning to cramp up a bit, but that was fine. This was fine. Everything was fine. 

 

Jaune let out a silent yawn and looked to the side, finding Nora and Ren peeking out from behind the wall. When they made eye contact, the two laughed awkwardly, and Jaune made his most unamused face he could muster. Eventually, he gave up and smiled, rolling his eyes playfully.

 

“Real subtle.” He whispered, and Nora scooted over to the couch, followed by Ren, who was stifling a yawn.

 

“Jaune, you know you have a bed for a reason, rig-” She stopped when she saw Oscar, her teasing smile turning upside down and her eyebrows furrowing. “...Rough night?” 

 

Jaune’s smile faltered as he looked back at the sleeping brunet. “...Yeah. Very rough.” Ren frowned, looking almost comically offended. 

 

“You could’ve gotten me.” Jaune shrugged lightly, being careful not to move too much to disrupt Oscar. “I didn’t want to disturb you two. Besides - you looked comfortable.” He added at the end, watching as Nora and Ren’s cheeks turned as red as roses. The blond chuckled, his grin coming back. “It’s fine. I was able to handle it. I think it’s okay now.” 

 

Ren looked a bit skeptical, but decided to let it go for now. “If you say so.” He looked to Nora and smiled, causing the orange-haired female to blush even more. “I’m going to make pancakes for the team for breakfast today. You could help me if you would like.” Nora nodded quickly, and after saying goodbye, she followed Ren into the kitchen like a lovesick puppy.

 

Before Jaune could ponder on anything, Oscar began to stir, his eyes opening. He blinked blearily, and Jaune could feel the small tremors running up and down his body. “...mmm… what…?” He then looked up at Jaune as if he was suddenly remembering that he fell asleep against the older male. His cheeks immediately flared red as he scooted over a bit, wringing his hands together and putting them in his lap. His lips were moving, but no sound was coming out. Despite him, Jaune chuckle and reached out to ruffle the boy’s hair.

 

“Good morning, Oscar. I hope you slept alright.” Jaune said. He watched as Oscar regained his composure and smiled shyly, rubbing the back of his neck.

 

“I-I did, actually. U-um, thanks for asking…” He looked down at his lap before looking back up at Jaune, slightly hesitant in speaking. “H-hey, listen, I’m… I’m sorry for last night. I didn’t mean to… wake you up and cause so much commotion.” Jaune bit back a sigh of exasperation and shook his head, determined to make it clear that he didn’t need to be sorry.

 

“Don’t apologize. You don’t have to. Everyone needs a helping hand sometimes…” He smiled lopsidedly. “You needed a helping hand last night. I couldn’t just leave you to navigate on your own…” He paused for a second. “...You… You bring out the older brother in me.” 

 

He had to pretend that he didn’t have to bite back a coo when he saw Oscar’s eyes light up. Before Oscar could reply, Jaune stood up, stretching out and letting out a loud yawn. “I’m kind of hungry. Aren’t you?” The boy blinked twice in confusion, seemed to think for a second before standing up, his shoulders tense. 

 

“U-uh, yeah! I actually am…”

 

“I don’t think Ren and Nora would mind if we helped with the pancakes. I figured you’d want to clear your mind a bit more.” Jaune watched as Oscar nodded, his shy smile turning into a more certain one. 

 

“Yeah! Hopefully they won’t mind…”

 

“We’ll see. Let’s go.”

 

Jaune was a big brother, through and through. It explained why he was so protective of Ruby, and it explained why he was so protective of Oscar. He had wanted to get closer to Oscar, and although he did it through an unfortunate circumstance… 

 

He didn’t mind when Oscar flashed him a bright smile from across the room.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Yang and Oscar have a small talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so sorry for the late ans short chapter !!   
> school and acting has been keeping me super busy, so i didn't have a lot of time to whip this up. i promise i'll have a better chapter next time, okay ?? trust me !!   
> enjoy !!

Yang’s eyes flickered from the wall to a certain farm boy, a small frown tugging at the corners of her lips.

  


She was honestly concerned. The meeting with Ironwood hadn’t gone so well - there was a lot of yelling, Ironwood was being stubborn, Ozpin was pleading, and Qrow grew increasingly mad throughout the entire meeting. Although Ironwood agreed to hold the relic for the time being, he wasn’t happy at all. It didn’t really help that Ozpin used a lot of energy on being mad, so Oscar almost passed out in the meeting room and had to be carried back to the house. Ever since then, Oscar had been sitting on the couch with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, staring into the void and not seeming to hear anyone. He didn’t even react when Qrow called the meeting in the kitchen.

  


Needless to say, Yang was worried for the boy’s state of mind, but she just didn’t know how to approach him.

  


“I think someone should talk to him.”  Blake murmured as if she was reading the blonde’s mind. “We can fill you in on what happens next when you get back; he just probably needs support. I could go?” She offered, but Yang quickly stood up from her chair. She had been meaning to talk to Oscar, but this was her excuse to.

  


“I-I’ll do it!” She exclaimed a bit too loudly, ignoring all the weird looks she got. Yang wasn’t a subtle person, so she just laughed it off and put her hands on her hips. “What? The boy needs moral support! And what better way to do it than with…”

  


“Yang, no…” Ruby groaned.

  


“Puns! I’m going to cheer him up with puns.” Yang stated, moving around the table and towards the living room. She sent a wink over her shoulder. “Get me up to speed when I get back, okay?”

  


“Okay!”

  


Despite her open mind, Yang was honestly nervous. Her previous interactions with Oscar had been... Brief. And rather awkward. But it would be okay! There was nothing a couple of puns couldn’t fix. Yang stepped into the living room, trying to assess the situation. The farm boy sat at the edge of the couch, curled up against the armrest. Although he was sitting up, his eyes held some sort of… emptiness to them. He hadn’t been reacting to anything before - maybe he was just zoned out to the max?

  


Yang softly plopped herself down next to Oscar and drummed her fingers on her thighs, trying to think of a pine-related pun. “So… Oscar… has anyone ever… _pined_ for you?” She asked in a teasing tone, smirking. When she got no reaction, she coughed into her hand. “You know how we have all the different kinds of ice cream cones? There’s the regular cone, the waffle cone, the chocolate cone… the _pine_ cone…” She said, praying to the gods that she would get a reaction. Nothing. Yang bit her lower lip and leaned back on the couch, resting her hands in her lap. “Well… let me tell you something, Oscar. Even though the meeting went bad today, Ironwood isn’t the kind of person to just leave someone hanging. It’ll be fine, buddy. Just remember that.” She patted the boy on the shoulder lightly, careful not to startle him too much in case she actually got a reaction out of him. Nothing. He was like a shell, just sitting there and not moving unless someone prodded at him and practically forced him to move.

  


Yang blinked, her light hearted, one-sided banter beginning to grow a tiny bit frantic. Was there anything wrong with him? She poked at him again, deciding to go on about her favorite color - purple. Purple was pretty, she said with a smile, reaching over and ruffling Oscar’s hair. She proceeded to talk about all the different shades of purple and how purple just felt so royal and nice - despite it being a cold color, she said, it always felt warm to her.

  


And what do you know? Oscar blinked twice and sat up a bit straighter, some of the haziness in his eyes clearing up. That was a start. He blinked twice, face pale and clearly confused. He let out a puff of air, slumping against the armrest. Yang debated on whether to say something, but a small, rather weak voice stopped her from saying anything.

  


“On the contrary… I prefer the color orange.”

  


Yang breathed a sigh of relief and patted the boy on the shoulder lightly, a smile stretching across her features. “Good to have you back, buddy. Although, I have to wonder - why orange?”

  


“Hm…” Oscar turned so that he was facing Yang a bit more, his face still a bit too pale for her liking. “Well… it’s a warm color. It reminds me of the sun… and the flowers my Aunt planted in the farm. She planted lilacs… and the orange ones she planted were called… crysonthe… crysthethem… crystanthemoms?” His nose scrunched up and his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to pronounce the name of the flower, and it was at this moment when Yang realized why everyone loved the farm boy. She snickered and shook her head.

  


“Close enough, pipsqueak.” She ignored his small pout. “It’s pronounced chrysanthemum. But you get an e for effort.” The tips of Oscar’s ears began to turn red as he averted his gaze, clearly embarrassed. “It’s fine. Can you tell me other reasons why you like the color orange so much?”

  


Yang had learned many things from her dad - this tactic was one of them. She used to zone out all the time when she was home, and although she wasn’t completely unresponsive, she tended to get out of touch with reality a lot. So, her dad would just talk to her. It could be about anything - a book, a favorite kind of food - anything. The point was to keep the other person talking long enough so that they could be fully… here, she guessed. Yang smiled as Oscar continued to elaborate on why he loved the color orange, his main point being that it just made him feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside. He fiddled with his orange suspenders as he spoke, some color returning to his face.

  


“That’s nice reasoning,” Yang said as Oscar curled in on himself a bit more. “Now… what’s your favorite flavor of ice cream? I need to know what kind of person you are, Oscar Pine.” The freckled boy blinked, a shy smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

  


“Um… well, I really like cookies and cream. It’s like… a mixture between chocolate and vanilla, but better. And I like crunchy things… s-so… um…” He trailed off at the end, seeming to curl impossibly more into himself. Yang frowned, watching as Oscar slowly relaxed, the hazy look in eyes returning. The blonde panicked and shook his shoulder, rambling incoherent sentences.

  


“C-C’mon, Oscar - tell me about cookies and cream more! Chocolate is the superior ice cream flavor, but I’m willing to hear you out! Oscar… buddy?” Yang tried desperately, watching as Oscar tried to snap himself of whatever daze he just fell into.

  


“U-um… I really like cookies… I guess…” He mumbled, his words slurring together. “Especially the chocolate chip ones… those are nice.” Yang wrapped an arm around the boy and let him rest against her shoulder, making sure to leave enough room so that he could move if he wanted to.

  


“Ruby really likes chocolate chip cookies too, you know.” Yang said absentmindedly with a smile. Oscar perked up at that, his eyes lighting up.

  


“R-really?”

  


“Yeah. She once made a super big cookie, tried to put into milk and couldn’t fit it in. Then he huffed, said ‘thanks Ironwood’, and just ate it without milk. I had to stop her from dumping milk onto the cookie.” Yang continued to speak, hoping that it would wake Oscar up a bit more. Sure enough, the brunet giggled, his cheeks turning red.

  


“Heh. She would do that, wouldn’t she?” He murmured, and Yang nodded, racking her brain for more conversation topics. Oscar seemed to nestle against Yang a bit more, and she had to bite back the urge to coo.

  


“So… uh… did you hear about the tree who needed water? I guess you can say that he needed a tree-tment.” Yang blurted. Oscar snorted into his hand. Yang could feel the small, silent giggles that shook the freckled boy’s tiny frame. “Finally! Someone who appreciates my puns. I seem to have a good audience today.” When Oscar kept on giggling, Yang decided to continue, happy to finally use all her tree puns. She had been saving these from the day she met Oscar. “Let’s say trees could walk on the sidewalk and on crosswalks. Would that make them pedes-tree-ans?” This time, Oscar laughed out loud, his nose scrunching up and his face brightening. See? Puns _did_ make everything better! She grinned triumphantly as Oscar wiped a tear from his eyes, a shy smile on his face.

  


“Heh… do you have any more?”

  


“Do I?”

  


The next couple of minutes consisted of adorable giggles and a bunch of tree puns. Yang made hand motions as she spoke, basically doing a stand-up comedy skit, while Oscar laughed, the light in his eyes restored. Not only was Yang able to snap the boy back into reality, she was able to learn a little bit about him. And she finally got to talk to him one-on-one! If talking consisted of colors, ice cream, panicking and puns, of course.

  


“...Thanks, Yang.” Oscar said, his small voice breaking Yang out of her rant about pine cones. She laughed and patted Oscar’s shoulder, a bright grin on her face.

  


“Don’t mention it, Oscar!” She exclaimed. “I just worried about everyone’s favorite local farm boy.” Oscar’s cheeks turned red as he laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck and looking away. When he didn’t say anything, Yang stood up and offered her hand to him. “We should go meet with the others, yeah? Everyone was worried about you - I think it’d be a relief to everyone if they saw you, happy, smiling and okay.”

  


The freckled farm boy took her hand with a soft sigh, his small smile turning brighter. “Alright.”

  


Needless to say, everyone was overjoyed when Oscar walked through the door.

  


Everyone also groaned collectively when Yang announced that puns made everything better.

  


(But Oscar laughed. And that was enough validation.)


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Weiss finds someone singing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI I LIVE  
> i managed to pump out this chapter by using little breaks i had lmao  
> winter break is in one day !!  
> speaking of which, i will not be active on AO3 until the break is over, or at least until Christmas is over. i'll bring in some new chapters the first weeks of January  
> and !! if you have any requests, i'll gladly do some  
> enjoy !!

Weiss, despite the memories it gave her, loved to sing. She loved the way the words would roll off her tongue and come out of her mouth in a perfect-pitched, beautiful melody that could catch the attention of anyone.

  


To be honest, she was proud of the fact that she was the only singer in the group. She had already sung a small thing for Ruby, who loved it, and she even performed for Jaune once. Singing was her favorite pastime, it never failed to cheer her up, and she didn’t mind singing out loud occasionally in front of a small group of people.

  


Everyone had admitted to her that they didn’t really know how to sing.

  


Which is why she was very surprised that when she began to head to the basement to find her weapon, she heard a small voice that caught her interest right away. Even though it was small and soft… it had a presence and was strong at the same time, if that made any sense. Weiss strained to hear what the person was singing, and maybe find out who was singing in the process. However, she wasn’t raised a fool - she could figure out who this was without needing to see them.

  


A small, timid voice… but has a big presence… passion behind it, but choosing not to show it…

  


Holy crap - was that Oscar?!

  


Weiss had to see it herself to believe it. If it was Oscar, she wouldn’t know what she’d do. She didn’t know the farm boy could sing! Lately, she had noticed that she had bonded with Oscar the least, and she really wanted an opportunity to… get to know someone who may be the little brother she never had.

  


(Well… she had a little brother already, but she didn’t like to think about him.)

  


The ex-heiress approached carefully, standing against the wall and peeking out a tiny bit. There the freckled farm boy stood, stomping his foot with an arm reached out to the sky. **_I cry Babel, Babel, look at me now! For the walls of my tower and crumbling down-_**

  


Chills ran up and down Weiss’ arms as she gaped, not expecting the sudden burst of passion and volume. It was evident that Oscar didn’t have proper singing training (of course he didn’t, you dolt, she chastised herself), but he was already so… amazing. Despite being 14, and probably going through puberty, he had good control over his voice and articulated everything near perfectly. Not to mention that he was able to add so much emotion to his voice without straining it and accidentally adding rasp.

  


**_I should’ve known I was weaker from the start…_ **

  


Weiss slid down the wall and sat with her back against it, blinking in some-what disbelief.

  


**_You’ll build your walls, and I’ll play my bloody part,_ **

  


**_To tear, tear them -_ **

  


****_Well, I’m going to tear, tear them down…!_  
  


And the way he slowly got louder and louder… that was hard to do. Weiss found herself smiling as Oscar moved into what she assumes was the chorus. She didn’t really want to watch him anymore - just hearing him was enough. The white-haired female was pleasantly surprised as Oscar finished his song, his words turning into a soft hum slowly. There was some muttering, shuffling, and groaning, and Weiss moved to leave because she didn’t know what she would do if she was found snooping in on what she assumed was a private moment (singing by herself had always been a private moment for her), but before she could move to run up the stairs, she locked eyes with a rapidly paling, wide-eyed farm boy who seemed at a loss for words. Before Weiss could say anything, Oscar let out a soft groan and buried his face in his hands, his words muffled.

  


“This is just like the time Nora caught me.”

  


“...Nora caught you? When?” Weiss asked, making sure to keep her voice low. She could see the small tremors that shook his shoulders. She didn’t wish to humor those shakes. “Wait, no, don’t answer that question.” She quickly added. “I’m sorry for intruding I just think…” She always had something to say before. Why couldn’t she just think of something to think of?! Weiss was growing increasingly frustrated with herself but managed to keep a straight face as she struggled to find something to say. To her surprise, the small giggles of a small farm boy filled her ears.

  


“It’s fine, Miss Weiss.” He reassured her. “You don’t have to be sorry. I was the one singing out in the open.”

  


Oh, no. Weiss wasn’t going to let Oscar take the blame for that. Her eyebrows furrowed as she frowned, crossing her arms over her chest.

  


“It’s definitely not your fault. A singer has to sing - it doesn’t matter where they are.” She said, her frown quickly turning into a small smile. Oscar’s eyes lit up slightly; he looked as if he wanted to ask a question but swallowed it when Weiss continued. “I get it. And honestly? I’m rather impressed.”

  


Oscar’s face seemed to burst with the word ‘validation!!!” as he grinned happily, making Weiss’ heart flutter in her chest. How adorable! “I-I’m glad you enjoyed it, Miss Weiss. But I have to ask - do you sing too?” His curiosity made Weiss smile.

  


“Yes, I do. I find singing a way to… escape the world for the time being.” She replied, and Oscar nodded. “At first, I was forced to take lessons, but it quickly turned into a way to-” She stopped when she was about to say, ‘spite her father’, because she didn’t want to say too much. And she didn’t want to even mention that dirty man. “...to fall into my own world where I was safe, you know? Although my songs were rather sad…” She trailed off, watching as Oscar rocked on his heels.

  


“Mm… A lot of the songs I like to sing are rather sad, too. What songs do you like to sing?” Now, the boy was fully invested. Weiss, with a smile on her face motioned for Oscar to follow her and began to make her way to the kitchen, fully prepared to make tea for the both.

  


“Well… I suppose I like opera the most.” Weiss started, opening and closing cabinets to find what she needed. “Songs with deep lyrics as well. I…” She hesitated whether to say this or not but decided to anyway. “...I sang the Mirror, Mirror song.” The ex-heiress saw the way Oscar perked up slightly, a small blush coating his cheeks.

  


“Y-yeah… I’ve heard that song once or twice on the way to Atlas. Didn’t you hear it on the train?” He asked. When Weiss bewilderedly shook her head, Oscar giggled, his shoulders relaxing. “Yeah - there were some people blasting the music and saying ‘mood’ and ‘relatable.’ Which, honestly, isn’t too far off.” His amused smile turned into a shy one. “But I like it for what it is. It sounds like you went through a hard time… and that’s what makes the song even more special.” He giggled again at Weiss’ rather shocked face. “I like it.”

  


“...I-I’m flattered.” Weiss muttered, putting some water in the kettle and moving to put it on the stove. “I didn’t realize that it was such a popular song.” Oscar laughed almost nervously, sitting at the table and swinging his feel a bit.

  


“I heard it once when I was in town, and then I didn’t hear it again until the train. You just have a really pretty voice, is what I’m trying to get to!” The freckled farm boy blurted, his face as red as a certain someone’s cape. Weiss, despite trying her hardest not to, giggled into her hand.

  


“Why thank you, Oscar. You have a rather nice voice as well.” And once again, his face lit up with ‘validation!!!’ as he smiled, looking so genuinely happy for the first time since the Ironwood meeting. He babbled out something akin to ‘thank you’ and stared at the table as Weiss turned off the boiling kettle. In a minute, she was handing a nice, warm cup of tea to Oscar. When he looked at her quizzically, she smiled and sat down, replying, “Tea is good for your voice. Although I prefer coffee, tea can have some great benefits on your voice - especially if it had honey in it.”

  


“...Does this have honey in it?”

  


“What do you think?”   


“...Yes.”

  


For the next…

  


(She didn’t know - maybe hour??)

  


(Yeah.)

  


For the next hour, Oscar and Weiss just talked - about singing, about some personal things (but not too personal - she could tell when the boy’s anxiety spiked.), and some likes. Weiss found talking to the farm boy more enjoyable than she thought it would be; she thought his awkward, shy mannerisms would be a small obstacle. However, it just seemed that he was shy and awkward around people he didn’t know. The more time went on, the more relaxed the boy became.

  


Weiss didn’t even know how much time passed, but it must’ve been a long time, because when she went to take another sip of her tea, she found her cup empty. She huffed slightly, wishing she had boiled just a tiny bit more water. Oscar seemed to be out of tea as well. He stood up, and Weiss frowned.

  


“Where are you going?”

  


“U-uh, I’m going to wash it and put it on the rack to dry. Why? Do you want me to do yours, too?” He asked, pointing to her empty cup. Weiss’ heart squeezed, and she couldn’t help but let a smile form on her face. What a polite kid.

  


“No, it’s fine. I’ll do it myself.” The white-haired female said with a shake of her head, watching as Oscar’s mouth opened, closed, then he turned around awkwardly and made his way to the sink. Weiss made no move to stand up - she just watched as Oscar fumbled with the soap, almost dropped his cup, and almost slipped in the span of a minute. She resisted the urge to snort and finally stood up, helping to steady the struggling farm boy.

  


“Are you okay? Have you ever washed something before?” She asked with a small frown, watching as Oscar put the cup in the dish rack with a bright blush.

  


“U-uh, yeah, but I think a lot. But it’s fine! And yes, I have washed something before. My Aunt always made me do my own dishes because ‘when I get married, I’m not going to let the woman do all the work.’” He changed his pitch at the last phrase, smiling almost wistfully.

  


“...I’m sorry if this is intruding, but would you mind letting me know a little about your Aunt?” Weiss asked. She couldn’t help it if her curiosity got the better of her. Oscar blinked and leaned against the counter, scratching his chin.

  


“Well… she’s a very nice lady, I guess. A bit too overprotective, but it makes sense. Um… she’s good at cooking and making hot cocoa! She’s also as strong as a bull - like you should really see her! She looks very big, but she’s a very nice, tender person at heart. We have all these inside jokes and we like to sass one another-” He stopped abruptly, like he was just realizing something. Weiss’ eyebrows furrowed as the freckled boy tried to get something out, but he just couldn’t spit it out. Oscar then stopped altogether, not even bothering to try anymore.

  


“...Hey? What’s…” That’s a stupid question, she chastised herself. The answer was already written all over his face. “You miss her, don’t you?”

  


Oscar offered a wordless nod, his arms coming up to wrap around himself slowly; he was giving himself a hug, and that just hurt. Weiss let out a soft sigh and put a hesitant hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Look… when I was younger, my mother and I… were very close. We had all these inside jokes, we laughed, and cried, we… we just loved each other. But then, my father had the ‘big reveal’ and everything fell apart.” Oscar looked up at her with glassy, but concerned eyes, and Weiss continued. “Now, she’s definitely not who she used to be. I miss her all the time, too…” She smiled bitterly. “It’s okay to miss someone. You can hope that you’ll see her again one day… but for now, you have us. And we’ll give you all the support you need, okay?”

  


Another wordless nod was given, but this time, Oscar was smiling. Weiss called that progress. “You know what I do when I’m down?”   


“Sing?”   


“Sing.”

  


Oscar was a bit hesitant at first, with only a few hums and some words coming out here and there, and Weiss was about to launch into a whole paragraph that stated, ‘he didn’t have to do this,’ but he seemed to finally find the courage to sing in front of her.

  


**_So, hold me fast -_ **

  


**_Hold me fast cause I’m a hopeless wanderer…_ **

  


**_I will learn, I will learn to love the skies I'm under_ **

  


**_And I will learn, I will learn to love the skies I'm under_ **

  


**_The skies I'm under…_ **

  


Even though it was short, Weiss enjoyed it. She could see how much emotion went into those lyrics. If only he could get some proper training, he’d probably be even better. Maybe she could…

  


She’ll see.

  


She clapped when Oscar finished, watching as a blush spread across his cheeks and even went to the tips of his ears this time. “...Oh, come on. It wasn’t that good.” He muttered. “I was a little off-key.”

  


“I couldn’t tell.” Weiss replied with a small shrug, turning around and going back to cleaning her cup. “Although, I am curious… where do you know these songs from?”

  


Oscar fiddled with his fingers. “Well… u-um, my Aunt used to play some of these songs for me. They cheered me up a lot, and I memorized a lot of them.”

  


Weiss hummed, making eye contact with the farm boy again. “Would you mind… singing to me one of your favorites?”

  


And that’s how it started. Oscar started with a song called “Winter Winds”, which was quite beautiful. Weiss gave him a couple of pointers here and there, making sure to help him hit notes harder and fix his articulation a tiny bit. Now and then, a person would walk by, give the white-haired female a quizzical look, and walk off when she shooed them away.

  


Weiss didn’t really know _everything_ about singing - she knew a lot, but not everything. But she was happy to pass any information she knew on to a starry-eyed, freckled farm boy who looked up to her for guidance for more than one thing.

  


He really was like the little brother she never had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we did it   
> happy holidays !!


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is cake making

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im alive !!  
> a couple of people on here wanted some ren and oscar bonding time, and i managed to deliver as best i could !!   
> i hope you enjoy this. i'll have more chapters for you soon !!  
> also  
> 1-800-FIND-OUR-SON in episode 9   
> stay fresh

Ren let out an amused huff as Nora waddled up to him, chocolate pudding smeared all over her face. They were trying to make chocolate pudding covered cake to share with the team. Everyone seemed to be stressed lately - Ren couldn’t exactly pinpoint the source of all the stress, but he hoped that this treat would cheer everyone up.

 

(It was probably the looming feeling of helplessness that came right after the meeting with Ironwood. His bad mood seemed to stick to everyone like syrup.)

 

(He had also specifically instructed everyone to stay in their rooms.)

 

Snorting to himself, Ren cleaned all the pudding from her cheeks and nose, kissed the tip of her nose and put the towel to the side as a reminder to clean it. Nora, flustered as ever, turned around and began to mix the ingredients again, claiming that she didn’t mix it well enough. Ren laughed to himself, making his way over to the fridge to get the necessary ingredients for the cake.

 

“Make sure not to spill it all over yourself.” He said teasingly, and even though her back was to him, he could see her rolling her eyes playfully.

 

“I won’t. I’m not that clumsy, you know.” She replied, sending him a wink over her shoulder. Now it was Ren’s turn to be flustered. He coughed into his hand and turned away, making sure not to drop the eggs as Nora laughed. Ren was about to say something in retaliation, but a small whimper stopped him from doing or saying anything. Nora’s amused expression faltered as she let out a small sigh. Ren frowned, putting the eggs on the counter and moving to stand next to the ginger.

 

That was the other thing - the person who had been the most stressed of all was Oscar. The poor boy not only had anxiety about the meeting beforehand, he had the person who the general was blaming was in his head. He would be the most stressed of all, of course.

 

The kid had been staring off into space like crazy. There had been some periods of time where he would just go completely limp against the couch arm and be completely unresponsive. And he would come back with a jerk and a gasp, his eyes always wide and his face too pale for comfort.

 

(He was the only one who the ‘stay in your room’ rule didn’t apply to.)

 

Nora looked as if she were about to go over to the couch and see if Oscar was okay, but Ren put his hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

 

“Wh-”

 

“I’ll go. Stay here, okay? Try not to drop anything.” He smiled lopsidedly, and Nora huffed, crossing her arms. She mumbled a small ‘fine’ and Ren set off, shuffling to the couch with a frown. The freckled boy was curled in on himself, his breaths coming in in short puffs of air. Feeling a pang of pity in his chest, Ren slowly sat down, trying not to startle him. Oscar blinked at him, looking as if he were about to explode with anxiety. Ren, having formulated a plan the moment he heard the whimper, put his hand on Oscar’s forehead, fully prepared to use his semblance. What threw him off, though, was the exclamation of ‘no!’ that shot its way out of the boy’s mouth. Ren pulled his hand away, blinking in surprise. Oscar’s face turned red as he sat up, sputtering out broken apologies and gibberish.

 

“Oscar, Oscar.” Ren soothed, putting his hand on the other’s shoulder. “It’s okay. What’s the matter?” He made sure to keep his voice gentle, just in case Oscar got startled again. Oscar let out a shuddering sigh and shook his head, leaning into Ren’s touch.

 

“...Is that chocolate?” He finally asked after a couple of seconds of silence. Ren forced back an exasperated huff and nodded, keeping his hand on Oscar’s shoulder since it seemed to bring some sort of comfort to the freckled boy.

 

“Yes. Nora and I are making chocolate pudding and cake.” Ren replied. He almost chuckled at the way Oscar’s eyes lit up at that. The black-haired male then got an idea. “Would you like to help? I don’t mind, and I’m sure Nora would love your company.” He said. Oscar blinked twice, a small smile forming on his face.

 

“Um… yes, please.” Ren couldn’t help but grin as he stood up, offering his hand to Oscar. The boy tentatively took it and pushed himself off the couch, not saying anything when Ren didn’t let go.

 

Nora greeted them with enthusiasm, her eyes bright and a wide grin on her face. “Heya! I see you want to help us. That’s great.” She pointed a chocolate pudding-covered spoon at the farm boy, laughing when he stumbled back slightly. “But! Do you have what it takes? Can you bake a cake with confidence?”

 

Oscar blinked twice, not really knowing how to reply to that, and Ren snorted into his free hand. “Nora, sweetie, leave him be.” Nora huffed, crossing her arms and Ren tried so desperately not to rush over and reposition the spoon so that chocolate wouldn’t drip on the floor - but when you have an anxiety-ridden farm boy clutching onto your hand like his life depended on it and an energetic girlfriend with faster reflexes than you, it’s just better to let things be.

 

Ren let out a soft sigh and looked down at Oscar., whispering, “Come on. You can help me with baking the cake. The only reason why Nora is on the chocolate pudding is because she’d sprinkle flour all over the kitchen and turn it whiter than it is outside.” Oscar snickered. Ren ignored the weird look from Nora as he led the boy to the cabinets and hesitantly let go of his hand. Oscar looked a bit more nervous than before and wrung his hands together, but ultimately, he stayed calm. Nora bounded over to the farm boy, allowing him to taste some of the chocolate pudding as Ren got all the ingredients for the cake. He wanted it to be a good cake before, but now, he wanted it to be a _great_ cake - for the sake of both the team and Oscar.

 

“Here. Let’s begin.” Ren said softly, and Oscar quickly hurried over to the male and helped with multiple things.

 

Things were going great for a period - the batter was nice and smooth, there weren’t any egg shells in said batter, and everything was going smoothly. When Oscar went to add flour, though, the poor boy sneezed, not having enough time to turn away, and flour flew everywhere. Now, his off-white shirt and arms were completely white, his eyelashes and face were covered in specks of white, and his hair looked like it had snow in it.

 

Despite himself, Ren began to laugh. Nora began to laugh as well, and soon, they were all laughing in unison.

 

Then things began to go downhill.

 

Oscar jokingly threw a small bit of flour at Ren, who tried to dodge but couldn’t. The ninja-like male huffed and then threw some flour at Oscar, who retaliated again. Nora decided to jump in, and they were all throwing flour at each other like it was a snowball fight.

 

It was fine, though. Only a little bit of flour was getting on the floor (it was easily sweep-able), and no one was getting hurt.

 

Then Oscar managed to slip, hit his head on the counter and knock over the mostly-filled bag of flour.

 

It was like a dust storm picked up in the middle of the kitchen, except the dust was white. Ren coughed and laughed at the same time, hearing both Nora’s indignant yelps and Oscar’s pained groans.

 

“Is everyone okay?” Ren finally asked, swatting some of the flour away from his face. The doubted it was going to settle soon. “We should go into the living room until this settles, yeah?”

 

The trio retreated into the living room, too nervous to sit or touch or move for fear of spreading the flour more. There was silence until a small, almost nervous snort filled the air and the couple turned their head to see Oscar, practically suffocating from giggling.

 

“I-I can’t… I-I can’t b-breath!” He yelped in between giggles as Nora and Ren laughed along with him.

 

(Ren couldn’t help but feel a swell of happiness in his chest - the last time he said he couldn’t breathe, he was having a horrible panic attack. Now, he was saying he couldn’t breathe because he was so happy.)

 

“...Not to be a downer or anything,” Oscar then spoke, having calmed down from his giggling fit. “But how are we going to make the cake now?”

 

A silence settled over them again. That was a good question - how were they going to do that?

 

“...We could wait for the flour to settle. Then, we’ll sweep the floor and hopefully we’ll have enough flour to make the cake.” Ren said, tapping his chin.

 

“We could open a window!” Nora suggested cheerfully, and Oscar nodded in agreement. Before Ren could say anything, Oscar waddled back into the dust of white, exclaiming something about the kitchen window. Then there were a couple of seconds of silence, a click, a whooshing sound, and Oscar emerged from the cloud, looking like even more snow was sprinkled over him.

 

“It was really easy to see through all the flour.” The farm boy said with a small smile. “I opened the kitchen window.” When he got two stares prompting him to continue, he did. “There were dust clouds all over the farm all the time. Sometimes one would get in the house, and I had to move my Aunt to safety. Then I would just leave her in a clean area and go open the kitchen window when it was safe. I guess I have… dust-vision?? The equivalent to night-vision, but just with dust?? I’m not so sure.” He rambled, his cheeks turning redder and redder by the seconds. Ren chuckled and ruffled his hair.

 

“Good job, Oscar. We’ll name it later - for now, I’m going to have to ask you to get the broom from the closet. Ignore any weird looks anyone gives you, yeah?” Ren said, and Oscar nodded. When he bounded away, Nora looked to her boyfriend, stars in her eyes.

 

“Can we adopt him?” She asked. Ren smiled and leaned forward to kiss her on the forehead.

 

Nora, I think everyone has adopted him by now.”

 

“True.”

 

“Hey! I got the broom! Weiss said that I looked as white as her, but as instructed, I ignored all the weird looks I got!” Oscar came back, exclaiming proudly as he held up the broom.

 

(Goodness - Ren liked the happy Oscar much better than the… zoning-out Oscar.)

 

Nora clapped her hands together in glee. “Good job, Oscar! And the cloud is already clearing up, so we’ll sweep in about 5 minutes.”

 

And in 5 minutes, the cloud was completely gone. Nora and Oscar started cleaning up all the flour while Ren scavenged just enough to fill the requirements for the cake. When the duo finished sweeping, Ren had just put the cake in the oven.

 

“Mission success!” Nora cheered, bouncing up and down in place. “But I have to get clean. So, I’m going to go put on my pajamas - yes, scandalous - and come back! Toodles!” Just as fast as she was talking, the ginger was gone, and Ren could hear her shriek at Jaune to get out for a sec.

 

“...Hey, Ren?” A timid voice broke Ren out of his chuckling spell and he looked down at Oscar, who was smiling shyly. “Um… thank you, for doing this. I had a lot of fun.”

 

“It wasn’t a problem, Oscar.” Ren replied softly, patting the farm boy on the head. “There’s a lot more to do, so the fun isn’t going to stop anytime soon.” He smiled when Oscar’s eyes lit up. “Why don’t you change into your pajamas, too? I’d imagine you’d be more comfortable. I’ll change when Nora gets back.”

 

Oscar nodded, gave Ren a quick hug and ran out of the kitchen like his pants were on fire. The black-haired male snorted into his hand and turned to the open window, a fond smile on his face. Yes, he knew that everyone had practically adopted Oscar at this point, but maybe Nora and him could _adopt_ adopt Oscar.

 

“Oh, Renny~! I’m back!” Speaking of the devil…

 

Nora hopped into the kitchen in her pajamas that had the word ‘boop!’ on the shirt, stopping right in front of him and standing on her tip-toes and puckering her lips. When Ren gave her the kiss she was asking for, she moved to sit on the counter.

 

“Do you want to change, Ren? I’ll watch the cake!! I remember from last time - when the oven beeps, check on the cake! I don’t want to make the kitchen catch on fire again, so I won’t. I promise.” And the ginger seemed to genuine that Ren had to chuckle.

 

“Of course, Nora. I’ll be right back.”

 

When Ren came back (he was held back for a bit by a scarred Jaune who was threatened with a hammer if he didn’t get out of the room; ‘I just came back to find a book for Blake.’), he found Nora and Oscar engaged in a conversation about what the best weapon was. Despite the oversized orange shirt, Oscar still had his bandages on, which raised curiosity in Ren, but he decided not to push it. That was a question for another day.

 

“Is the cake doing okay?” Ren asked when he walked in.

 

“Yup! It’s all fine and dandy - maybe just a couple of more minutes.” Nora replied, quickly, giving a thumbs up to the taller male.

 

“Can you get the pudding, Nora? I’ll get the ‘special spoon’.” Ren put air quotes around ‘special spoon’ because that’s all Nora would call it. In reality, it was just a spoon that was better suited for icing things, but Nora liked to call it the special spoon.

 

He explained this to Oscar as he got the aforementioned spoon, and he managed to get another fit of giggles from the boy.

 

He was so glad the boy was feeling better.

 

With Ren’s help, Oscar got the now-cooked cake out of the oven and they were now putting the pudding on it, watching as it just… melted onto the cake. “This is super satisfying.” Oscar murmured, and Nora laughed. Ren wanted to laugh too, but he couldn’t, because it would mess up the putting-of-the-chocolate-pudding.

 

Nora and Oscar got some cups of chocolate milk while Ren set up the table, and soon, they had the entire table set up with cutlery, chocolate milk, and a nice cake right in the middle of the table.

 

The next thing he knew, tiny arms were wrapped around his waist. Oscar was hugging him, a bright smile on his face. “Thank you,” He whispered, and Ren hugged him back, whispering back, “You’re welcome.” Nora joined the hug that Oscar had created, and they stayed like that for a while.

 

After pulling away, Nora was given the task of getting everyone out of their room, which she did in about 8 seconds. Team RWBY, Qrow and Jaune waddled out of their room and found Oscar and Ren doing jazz hands towards the table. Ruby gasped and immediately jumped into her usual seat and hit her hands against the table, yelling at everyone to hurry up.

 

The next hour and half were just the group sharing random stories and eating cake; laughter filled the air and the sound of clapping did as well. When Nora and Ren revealed that Oscar helped them with the cake, everyone chanted his name for a minute straight, and the poor freckled boy was trying to hide under the table with a red face.

 

Qrow didn’t really let him, though.

 

When the cake was gone and night fell, everyone returned to their rooms to get ready for bed. Oscar had retreated to his room first, claiming that he had been more tired than usual and wanted to get some rest early. No one questioned it and let him go off to his room after saying goodnight. They cleaned up and headed to bed, and soon enough, Ren and Nora were cuddled up against one another in bed, talking to Jaune about some team bonding exercises they could do.

 

A soft, almost scared knock on the door made the conversation pause. “...Uh, come in.” Jaune said, and a shaking Oscar shuffled into the room, his breaths coming in in short puffs and his face pale, much like how Ren found him earlier. Tears pricked in the corners his eyes and he blinked them away as Ren hurried over to him.

 

“C-Can… c-can you do… t-the thing?” Oscar whispered, his voice breaking on every other syllable. Ren’s worried gaze softened as he nodded, knowing exactly what he was talking about. The boy muttered a small ‘thank you’.

 

The taller male put his hand on Oscar’s forehead (gods he was shaking so much-) and put his semblance to work. Immediately, Oscar relaxed, his breathing evening out and his tense posture loosening. He swayed in place, and Ren made sure to steady him before gently leading him to sit on the bed. Jaune hurried over and rubbed small circles into the boy’s back while Nora wrapped a blanket around him.

 

Ren let out a relieved sigh as Oscar went limp against him, his shaking stopping and his posture completely relaxing. It was a shame, really. Whatever was going on inside his head must really be getting to him. “We really need to keep a close eye on him.” He found himself whispering.

 

“Yeah...” Jaune trailed off before speaking again. “He can sleep with me. I don’t think we should leave him unattended overnight… you know, in case he wakes up again.”

 

“Good idea.” Nora piped up, a bit more quiet than usual. So, Jaune carried Oscar over to his bed and settled in with him while Ren and Nora settled against one another. Ren was about to drift off after a bit, but Nora’s whisper woke him up a tiny bit.

 

“Hey, Ren?”

 

“...Mhmm?”

 

“Oscar’s last name is ‘Pine’, right?”

 

“Mhmm.”

 

“Good to know.”

 

(Ren didn’t think much about it until morning. After all, Nora and he were usually on the same page.)

 

(And right now, she was on a pretty good page.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i try


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a pillow fort is made

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY NEW YEAR YA'LL  
> WE'RE STARTING THE NEW YEAR OFF RIGHT  
> oop im sorry for the angst it'll get better soon i promise  
> and you can pry dad!qrow out of my cold, dead hands  
> JackSimpson suggested the galaxy brain play of RenorArc, so i added little hints of it in there owo  
> if you have any suggestions for me then just say so owo  
> happy new year and enjoy !

Ruby frowned, looking towards Oscar’s bedroom door. Ironwood had come by earlier and gave Ozpin the relic back, stating that he didn’t want to house it anymore. He said something about the council and that he couldn’t keep it a secret for any longer. It was a horrible excuse, really, but he left before anyone could say anything. Ozpin got mad and ‘left the chat’, as Nora said, and Oscar had been holed up in his room ever since in an attempt to get Ozpin back out. The relic stayed with Oscar in his room for the first couple of minutes, but then he came out and gave it to Qrow, pale-faced and teary-eyed. He said that the relic made his skin crawl and made him feel uneasy. He ran back into his room after that and didn’t come out.

 

Qrow then stormed out, stating that he was going to go talk to the General.

 

Needless to say, Ruby was concerned. Everyone was concerned. But there was nothing they could do but wait until Oscar came out with or without Ozpin.

 

“There’s a new episode of that cooking show that you guys like,” Jaune tried, smiling weakly. “Maybe we should watch that while we wait.”

 

Everyone mumbled a ‘sure’ in response and watched boredly as Jaune turned on the television and went to go find the new episode. Before he could put it on, however, a muffled scream of frustration came from behind the door, followed by a loud sob that tore Ruby’s heart in two. The room went silent and everyone looked at each other, all wondering the same thing - should someone go and check on him?

 

Ruby, grateful for the excuse to stand up and do something, stood up and said, “Hey. I’ll go check on him. Start the episode without me.” She hurriedly walked over to Oscar’s door, knocking on it softly. She didn’t get a reaction to the knocks, so she spoke. “Hey, Oscar. Are you okay in there?”

 

Silence.

 

“Please leave me alone.” Oscar sounded so utterly broken and upset, and every fiber in Ruby’s being screamed at her to give him a hug and tell him it was okay.

 

“A-are you sure? We can bake cookies! We can go shopping! We can drink hot chocolate and watch tv-”

 

“Please.”

 

Ruby opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again, knowing that she was fighting a battle she couldn’t win. She just had to respect his wishes and wait until he was ready. “...Okay. But just know - when you’re ready, we’ll be here for you, okay?” She didn’t get a reply

 

She didn’t expect one.

 

“How is he?” Weiss asked when Ruby shuffled back into the living room and sat on the couch. The silver-eyed female let out a soft sigh and ran her fingers through her hair.

 

“He doesn’t… he just wants to be left alone for now. He’s not doing so great, but he doesn’t want anyone to help him.” She replied. Blake frowned, her ears drooping.

 

“...I feel so bad.” She said softly. “Oscar mentioned something the other day about feeling what Ozpin is feeling - it must be really hard for him right now”  


"Yeah. Ozpin seemed… pissed, to say the least.” Yang added, throwing a pillow across the room for Nora to catch. “He must be feeling all sorts of emotions.”

 

Ruby felt like a light bulb just went off in her mind when Yang threw the pillow across the room. “That’s it!” She exclaimed, startling everyone. “I know how we’ll be here for him when he comes out of his room - we could build a pillow fort! We could put blankets and pillows and make hot chocolate for all of us!” Nora hopped up from her seat and began to jump up and down.

 

“Yes! Ruby, you are a genius.” The ginger gushed. “Jaune! Drop the stupid remote and let’s get some blankets!” Jaune fumbled with the remote, threw it to Ren who caught it, and was whisked away by Nora who had grabbed his hand. Yang snorted and stood up, stretching.

 

“I’ll go get some chairs so that we can hang the blankets.”  


"I’ll help you!” Blake shot up from her seat and smiled. The two disappeared into the kitchen to get the chairs. Ren followed, saying that he would start on the hot chocolate. Weiss stood up, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear and smiling lopsidedly.

 

“We should pick a movie that he could watch with us.”

 

“Good idea!” Ruby chirped, shuffling to get the remote. She grabbed it and threw it to Weiss, who caught it and began scrolling through the options. Halfway through, Ruby exclaimed ‘stop!’ and Weiss almost dropped the remote.

 

‘What?! What is it?!”

 

“Annie! We should watch Annie! Oscar hums a lot, so he must like music, so he must like musicals and stuff!”

 

“...Good idea.”

 

Just then, Nora came barreling into the living room with a bunch of blankets, and Jaune waddled in after her, carrying an abundance of fuzzy blankets. “We got the fuzziest ones we could find,” The blond explained, putting all the blankets on the couch.

 

“Ooh! I’ll go check on Ren - have fun!” Nora exclaimed. She stood up on her tiptoes, kissed Jaune of the cheek and skipped off into the kitchen, passing Yang and Blake on the way. Everything after that was like a choreographed dance - they put up the blankets, Weiss insisted they change the pillow cases, they fluffed the pillows, set up the hot chocolate, changed into their pajamas for full fluffiness, read the review for the movie just in case and kept the select screen on the movie ‘Annie’. All they had to do was wait for Oscar…

 

Which was a bit more challenging than it seemed. Oscar didn’t seem to be coming out anytime soon. “He’s probably still mind-wrestling with Ozpin,” Jaune said randomly, running his hands through his hair.

 

“Yeah. We just have to be patient. We should watch the cooking show in the meantime.” Yang agreed, and they all sat away from the pillow fort for fear of messing it up. Halfway through the episode, there was a click and a soft huff. Ruby perked up and turned her head towards the farm boy’s door. Oscar was standing in the hallway in his pajamas, twisting his shirt with one hand and rubbing at his bandages with the other. He seemed just so… tired.

 

Ruby slowly stood up, gesturing at her friends to not make a fuss. She approached Oscar, who seemed to curl in on himself impossibly more. “Ruby, I’m so-”

 

“Please don’t finish that sentence.” Ruby interrupted him softly, holding her hands out to him. Oscar blinked, surprise written all over his features. “C’mon, Oscar. I have something to show you. From all of us. Just… don’t agitate whatever is under your bandages any more. The skin around it is beginning to turn red.” And like his neck was fire, Oscar jerked his hand away and bit his lower lip, small tremors shaking his shoulders.

 

“It’s okay. It’s okay.” The silver-eyed female soothed. “Just take my hands, okay? I have something to show you.”

 

In a way, this reminded her of when Oscar first arrived. He was closed off, timid, and so quiet that Nora once forgot he was there and sat on him while he was reading. Oscar stayed away from Nora for a bit after that, clearly flustered and horrified at himself.

 

(For what? Ruby didn't know. He was way too hard on himself.)

 

Hesitantly, Oscar took her hands, and Ruby grinned. “Great. Let’s go.” She led him to the living room, and before they even stepped in, everyone exclaimed “Oscar!”, which made the freckled boy flinch back. Ruby bit her lower lip, sent them a side glare and turned her attention back to Oscar. She let go of one of his hands and rubbed his shoulder, smiling reassuringly.

 

“It’s okay. The surprise is a nice one. I promise” Oscar seemed apprehensive but let her lead him into the living room fully. “Ta-da!!” She whisper-screamed, doing jazz hands at the pillow fort.

 

“We figured you need a little pick-me-up.” Blake explained, taking the hint and keeping her voice low. “So, we made a pillow fort.”

 

“We have hot chocolate, pillows, blankets galore,” Weiss added, stepping in front of Jaune to hide him frantically clicking at the remote. “And we’re going to watch a musical movie! It’s called Annie - if you don’t want to watch it that’s fine. We’ll just find another one.”

 

“Of course, you don’t have to.” Jaune said quickly. Ren put a hand on the blond’s shoulder and smiled.

 

“What do you say, Oscar?”  
  


There was silence for a bit. Ruby smiled at her friends before turning to face Oscar, and she couldn’t help but gasp. Silent sobs shook the boy’s thin frame and tears rolled down his cheeks. “I-I’m sorry, I-I’m so-” He hiccupped, wiping at his eyes furiously. “Why did you guys d-do this?”

 

Ruby frowned and took his hands in her’s again, determined to make him realize that they cared for him. “We did this because we care about you, Oscar. You’re a part of the team now - and whenever someone on the team is in need, we do everything we can to help them. And we really wanted to help you.” She grinned. “Now come. We can sit and watch Annie, drinking hot chocolate and snuggling under blankets - woah!”

 

Oscar suddenly hugged her tightly, gripping onto her as if his life depended on it. She could feel her cheeks heating up as she hugged back, murmuring small reassurances. She had heard from JNR that his anxiety had just been spiking lately, so this was the best possible thing for him right now. “Let’s go sit now, okay? I read the reviews on Annie, and the critics said it was super good…”

 

When they all got situated, Jaune turned on the movie. Oscar was curled up next to Ruby, his mug of hot chocolate cradled in his hands and a soft smile on his face. A warmth blossomed in the silver-eyed warrior’s chest as she giggled and ruffled his hair.

 

Halfway through the movie, when everyone was half-asleep, Qrow walked in and blinked twice, clearly bewildered by the giant fort that was standing in front of him. What he saw were blankets, pillows, mugs, the light of the tv, and 8 sleepy children curled up against one another. He chuckled to himself, closing the door behind him and deciding he would break the news to the kids tomorrow. Qrow was about to leave to go to his room to think things over, but a small groan of ‘Uncle Qrooooooowwwwwwww….’ made him stop in his tracks.

 

“...Yes, Ruby?” He whispered in reply.

 

“Come here…”

 

Not wanting to ignore his niece, Qrow walking up to Ruby and crouched in front of her, biting back a smile. Ruby was leaning against Weiss, and Oscar was clinging onto her waist, his eyes glazed with sleepiness. Ruby was the same way - tired, but with a smile on her face. “Come join us.” Her smile quickly turned into a small pout, and who could say no to that face?  
  


With a sigh, Qrow sat next to the farm boy, feeling rather big in the small fort. Ruby smiled again and then settled against Weiss again, a content sigh leaving her lips as she closed her eyes.

 

Qrow, deciding that he was too big for this fort a couple of minutes in, moved to leave, but a hand on his wrist stopped him. The huntsman turned around, expecting to see silver eyes peering at him.

 

To his surprise, hazel ones were.

 

“...stay.” Was all Oscar said. Qrow suppressed a huff and sat back down, deciding that he would wait for a bit the next time Oscar fell asleep. But to his surprise, the farm boy unwrapped himself from Ruby and decided to stick onto him like an octopus.

 

Now he really couldn’t escape.

 

“...Well. Might as well get comfortable.” Qrow muttered, reaching over to grab a blanket that was big enough to cover the both. He maneuvered so that they were both in a comfortable position and tucked the blanket around them. Oscar made a soft noise of happiness and Qrow couldn’t help but press a small kiss onto the boy’s forehead.

 

...Since when did he become a father of 8 children?


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Oscar sees Ozpin again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEWWO  
> sorry for the short chapter !! i just really wanted to do something like this after Jack Simpson suggested this ot me and i was like ?? woah i should probably do this !!  
> the next chapter is halfway done already, so i just need to change a couple of things, polish it, and then finish it , so stay tuned for that !!  
> without further ado ,   
> enjoy !!

When Oscar opened his eyes, all he could see was the color black. He was floating in what seemed to be a black void, and this didn’t do wonders for the anxiousness nipping at his toes. This kind of reminded him of the time when Oz and him first ‘met’...

 

Wait…

 

Oscar inhaled shakily and forced himself to take a step forward. If he were to get to Ozpin, he would have to search for a bit. He just hoped this wouldn’t take too long. Even though he was walking, he felt as if he wasn’t even going anywhere. There was nothing indicating that he was even moving, and there was nothing around to show that he was anywhere. The freckled boy gulped and tugged at the collar of his shirt, debating on whether to call out for Ozpin or not.

 

“...Oz?” He yelled, deciding to call out for the wizard. “Oz?”

 

Silence greeted him instead of an actual answer. Oscar let out a small huff, trying not to let his anger get to him. It was fine, he told himself. Just take a couple of deep breaths and keep walking. Everything will be okay.  
  
Oscar continued to walk, stopping whenever his surroundings (??) would shake a bit to take a small breath. Despite him walking and walking and walking, he came up short. There were no signs of Ozpin whatsoever.

 

Why was he here, then?

 

Oscar was about to try and regain consciousness in the real world, but a soft… noise stopped him. It was a small, and Oscar didn’t know what it was, but it was a lead. It was something. He stopped, trying not to make any noise and sure enough, the soft noise sounded again. That must’ve been Ozpin - no one else could be here. “Ozpin? Please?” He called out again, cupping his hands over his mouth to make himself seem louder.

 

There was a noise that sounded like a huff, and Ozpin appeared a few feet away from him, making the farm boy jump in surprise. Oscar blinked twice before slowly stepping forward, stumbling back when he bumped into something. It was… invisible??

 

“Don’t bother.” Ozpin sounded so bitter and tired. “Just let me think for a while, okay.” Oscar shook his head.

 

“No. Let me in. I want to help you come up with something.”

 

Ozpin chuckled bitterly as if he couldn’t believe it. He sounded almost amused. “Oscar, you won’t be able to comprehend a ‘plan’ if you tried to help me.” Ozpin kept his back turned towards Oscar, his voice neutral and devoid of emotion. “Please. Don’t worry about me. Go back to the real world, Oscar. I’ll be back in a bit.” The atmosphere in the area turned cold, and Oscar bit his lower lip.

 

“...No.” Oscar wasn’t going to stand for this. Ozpin wasn’t going to just leave them alone for a bit to think on his own - they could figure it out together! And Oscar knew that sounded cheesy, but they were a team, weren’t they? Ozpin turned around, staring down at the farm boy in surprise. HIs eyes shone with unshed tears, and this just made Oscar want to help even more. He was past the frustration and panic - now, he just wanted to do everything he can. “Come on, Ozpin. We can figure this out together. All of us. And we can help! They can help. I’m not leaving without you.”

 

“I’m sorry. That’s just not possible.” Ozpin replied curtly, narrowing his eyes. “Please leave, Oscar. Don’t make me tell you again.” Oscar involuntarily shivered and tried to stand a little straighter.

 

“Ozpin, I’m going to say it again - I’m not leaving without you. And if you don’t like that, that’s too bad.” He hissed, his hands curling into fists. “I’m. Not. Leaving.”

 

The invisible shield surrounding Ozpin expanded, and Oscar was pushed back. He grunted and stumbled backwards, staring at Ozpin with a mixture of sadness and determination. “Please. Let me help-”

 

“Leave!” Ozpin whipped around. He had never raised his voice before. Oscar guessed that was why this was so scary. His breath hitched in his throat and he put his hands up, taking small breaths in and out as his surroundings shook. The wizard let out a small sigh and then turned back around. “I won’t ask you again, Oscar. Please.”

 

Stubbornly, Oscar sat down on the floor and turned his back to Ozpin with no intention of leaving. Ozpin seemed to get the message, because he just sighed and sat back down on the floor, his hands running through his hair.

 

He disappeared with a pop.

 

The good thing was that Oscar knew exactly where Ozpin was now. He wasn’t alone, and he knew that. The bad thing was that he just couldn’t get to Ozpin. Oscar really, really wanted to get out of there; he felt like the walls were slowly closing in on him. But he couldn’t. He wanted to help Ozpin just how Ozpin had helped him so many times.

 

“...I know I was mad.” Oscar said aloud, opting to lay on his back instead of sitting. “But now I realize that being mad isn’t the right path to go down. Please, Ozpin. Let us help you.”

 

Nothing.

 

Not that Oscar expected anything.

 

With a small huff, the farm boy crossed his arms and remained silent. Despite him remaining silent, the silence was eating him alive. Now he had one more thing to be anxious about. Oscar brought his hand up to his shirt and gripped at it, blinking into the black abyss. The atmosphere turned tense and cold; uninterested. He didn’t know what else to say. What could he say? Why was this so complicated? Why was he chosen?

 

Oscar took a deep breath, laying his other arm over his eyes. He had to do something to get rid of these nerves…

 

Ah. He knew what to do.

 

“...Hey, Oz? Do you remember the first time I sung to you?” Oscar asked aloud. He wasn’t expecting an answer. It didn’t matter; Oscar went on. “I did. I was feeling really frustrated that day. And just horrible in general.” The atmosphere shifted… as if it was interested. “And then I started humming the lyrics to the first song my Aunt ever played for me - ‘Little Lion Man’. I’m pretty sure you remember that.” He paused, then continued. “And then you told me ‘why don’t you sing it’ because you felt that I really wanted to sing. And I really didn’t feel comfortable, but there was no one around. And I know you have an open mind.” The atmosphere turned warm, and Oscar smiled. “So, um… I’d like to sing you another song. If that’s okay with you.”

 

**_...Go ahead, Oscar._ **

 

Ozpin’s voice was still tight but was warmer than it was when Oscar first encountered him. The freckled boy took a deep breath and hummed the beginning of the song before launching himself into the song.

 

_You were cold as the blood through your bones_

 

_And the light which led us from our chosen homes_

 

_Well I was lost_

 

_And now I sleep_

 

_Sleep the hours and that I can't weep_

 

_When all I knew was steeped in blackened holes_

 

_I was lost…_

 

Oscar sat up, twisting the hem of his shirt and keeping his voice low.

 

_Keep the earth below my feet_

_  
For all my sweat, my blood runs weak_

_  
Let me learn from where I have been_

_  
Keep my eyes to serve, my hands to learn_

_  
Keep my eyes to serve, my hands to learn._

 

He paused for a second, gauging the reaction. Ozpin was silent, but the atmosphere seemed… peaceful. Content. Oscar stood up, tracing the tips of his feet on the floor as he’d seen some dancers do on the news.

 

_And I was still_

 

_I was under your spell_

 

_When I was told by Jesus all was well_

 

_So, all must be well_

 

Oscar looked up at the nonexistent sky and rubbed his arm, now opting to tap his foot. He couldn’t seem to stay still. Ozpin made a small humming noise, but Oscar was unable to identify the emotion that was behind it.

 

_Just give me time_

 

_You know your desires and mine_

 

_So, wrap my flesh in ivy and in twine_

 

_For I must be well_

 

_Keep the earth below my feet_

 

_For all my sweat, my blood runs weak_

 

_Let me learn from where I have been_

 

_Keep my eyes to serve, my hands to learn_

 

_Keep my eyes to serve, my hands to learn!_

 

Oscar hummed the bridge, twirling around in place and smiling. Even though the situation was rather… dark… Oscar was having a fun time with this. He could tell Ozpin was smiling - he just knew it. And right where Ozpin was standing before, grinning. At this point in the song, he had to raise his voice, and he was more than happy to do so,

 

_Keep the earth below my feet!_

 

_From all my sweat, my blood runs weak!_

 

 _Let me learn from where I have been!_  
  
  


_Keep my eyes to serve, my hands to learn!_

 

 _Keep my eyes to serve, my hands to learn!_  
  
  


And just like the song, Oscar hummed the rest, keeping his finger up. His hums faded out, and he just wanted to collapse to the floor and lay down again, but Ozpin reappeared, a smile on his face and tears running down his cheeks. The brunet wanted to desperately to run up and give him a hug, but he knew the invisible wall was there, so he didn’t even try.

 

Until Ozpin walked up to him and was within arm’s length. That’s when Oscar lunged forward, wrapping his arms tightly around Ozpin’s waist. The wizard was hesitant at first, but ultimately ended up hugging Oscar back, sniffling. The wizard then crouched down to Oscar’s eye-level and smiled weakly. “I’m sorry.” He whispered.

 

“There’s no need to be sorry.” Oscar whispered back, reaching forward and clumsily wiping a tear away. “You just have to realize that we’re here for you. And I know I was mad yesterday, and I’m sorry for that, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m willing to do everything I can to help.” He mirrored Ozpin’s smile. “Please. Let us help.”

 

Ozpin pressed his lips together, seeming to be contemplating something. He then nodded, leaning forward and hugging the boy again. “Okay.” Was all he said.

 

Nothing else needed to be said.

 

After that, Oscar’s eyes slowly fluttered open, the familiar browns of the living room flooding his vision and fluffiness flooding his senses. Right. Pillow fort. Ozpin chuckled in his mind as Oscar unwrapped himself from Qrow’s sleeping figure. **_You guys were certainly busy._**

 

_You have no idea._

 

But the moment Oscar went to stand up, he immediately knew something was wrong. He brought a hand up to his neck -

 

His bandages were falling off.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a past is revealed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alpharad voice aaaAAA  
> i finished this finally and im kind of shook bc  
> if crwby wont give us this backstory then i will >:((  
> SPOILERS FOR V6C9 RIGHT HERE  
> so for the red-haired lady i thought it was more like pyrrha's ghost but idk that's just me excuse me  
> AND !!  
> oscar's dad's name is brendan because brendan comes from latin that comes from irish that comes from welsh that means prince and i thought it would be fitting to have prince bc of oscar's new outfit's parallel to the little prince :00  
> SPOILERS OVER  
> also bonus points if you get where his aunt's name is from owo  
> so yeah this one was a long one im sorry but buckle in folks here comes the angst train

Oh gods. This is _not_ happening. Oscar ran to the bathroom and locked the door behind him, gasping when he saw the bandages around his neck. They were literally falling apart.

 

Oscar grimaced, his hand grazing over the patch of bandages. He had taken them off only once around the others, and that was when they went to the pond in Mistral to swim. But he just borrowed Weiss’ concealer and covered it up, then drew fake freckles with a small makeup pencil. Thank the gods it was waterproof makeup and thank the gods no one looked too closely.

 

Listen, he didn’t exactly lie to them - his arms and collarbone were covered in freckles! The freckles stopped around where his neck started, though, so he had to draw a lot of freckles.

 

He just couldn’t tell anyone what was under there. He felt bad about keeping this a secret from the others, but they just never asked, so that would be his excuse.

 

**_Keeping secrets is okay, Oscar. You keep them for a reason._ **

 

Everyone was still asleep in the pillow fort despite it being 8 in the morning **_(That’s still early, Oscar.)_**. The farm boy groaned and buried his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking small tremors.

 

He needed to go out and get new bandages. They were fraying and falling apart, hanging loose on his tan skin. The… thing was peeking out of the loose bandages and it made Oscar nauseous. _I must go right now._

 

**_There is some lien on the counter from Qrow’s wallet. He owes me some money for a bet that was placed before… well, he just owes me some money._ **

 

Oscar snorted to himself, biting back a retort. It must’ve been a very weird bet, then. After making sure the coast was clear, he shuffled into the kitchen where he took a couple of liens. He figured it would be okay - it was for a good cause.

 

Oscar got his clothes, jacket and shoes on in record time without making any noise and slipped out of the house, wrapping an orange scarf around his neck in order to hide it. He could walk into a convenience store without having to take anything off, right? Would a convenience store even have bandages? Well, that’s how he got his bandages last time, so he just had to assume that this one did.

 

The city was rather empty. Of course, it was around 8:15 in the morning, and people weren’t used to being up early like Oscar was. He passed by some people who were going to work, and one person came too close for comfort, but other than that, he had a nice walk. There were hardly any people around, which was good because he just needed to talk to one person. He just needed to work up the courage to do so.

 

He hoped he could work up the courage to do so.

 

The freckled boy stepped into the convenience store and the jingle of the bell startled him. The store clerk saw him jump and laughed, his eyes twinkling. His face was covered in smile lines, which made Oscar a bit less nervous. “Heh. The bell startles everyone, don’t worry about it. Welcome - can I help you with anything?”

 

Oscar bit his lower lip and closed the door behind him, his words getting caught in his throat. His cheeks began to turn red and panic rose in his chest. He needed to spit some words out, and despite Ozpin reminding him to breathe, he just couldn’t spit it out. “U-uh-”

 

“It’s fine. I get it.” The clerk winked at Oscar, interrupting him. Oscar let out a shaky breath. “Come to me when you’re ready, okay? You can roam the store in the meantime. Take your time.”

 

Oscar smiled gratefully and began to walk around the store, which was quite small. There was a small section in the back that was labeled ‘medical supplies’, which was packed to the brim because aura usually healed everyone’s wounds.

 

And then Oscar spotted a roll of bandages for half of the amount of lien he had. It was perfect - it was a giant roll, completely white and felt strong. This would probably last him a long time.

The farm boy took the roll of bandages and shuffled over to the counter, putting the roll on the counter. The store clerk nodded twice as if he understood and began to ring him up. “What are the bandages for?” He asked. Oscar blinked twice, not expecting to be asked that question (and the gods know he came up with every single situation in his mind so that he knew how to handle each one.). He stuttered out a reply.

 

“U-um, well, m-my little sister fell down the stairs, a-and she got a big bruise on her arm. S-she’s having a lot of trouble engaging her aura, t-though, so I needed to g-get these.” He said, wincing whenever he stuttered. Oscar was a horrible liar; he had never lied to his Aunt before - or anyone else for that matter - so lying didn’t come naturally to him. The store clerk nodded again, putting the bandages in a bag.

 

“Shame. I hope your sister feels better. That’ll be 8 liens.” Oscar paid, and once the transaction was over, he took the bag and the store clerk smiled at him.

 

“Stay strong, okay? Have a good day.”

 

“Y-you too!”

 

Oscar left the store with a fuzzy feeling in his chest. He smiled to himself and decided to take the long route home, wanting to see more of the town. There was a small square in the middle of the town, and in the middle of the square sat a fountain. The water was beginning to freeze, but still ran smoothly. Coins and other round objects were scattered around the bottom of the fountain. Oscar let out a soft puff of air as a small snowflake landed on his nose.

 

**_Atlas is rather gorgeous..._ **

 

Ozpin murmured wistfully; he could practically hear the smile in the old wizard’s voice. “Yeah… I guess it is.” The freckled farm boy whispered back, looking into the water of the fountain. He smiled as his chest blossomed with surprise and happiness, and he knew that was Ozpin.

 

“...cuse me. Excuse me!” A voice snapped him out of his quick exchange with Ozpin and Oscar looked up to find a female smiling softly down at him. She had red hair, green eyes and a pair of glasses. She was holding a bouquet of flowers, and Oscar’s heart stuttered for a second because she looked so _familiar._

 

“...Y-yes, ma’am?” He asked nervously, his hands instinctively going to twist his sleeve. The lady - who appeared out of nowhere and that didn’t do wonders for Oscar’s anxiety - reached into her pocket and took out a small coin, holding it out to him.

 

“If you throw this into the fountain, it is believed that a miracle will come to you. Even in your darkest hour, where there isn’t a miracle in sight, doing this will turn it around.” She chuckled almost bitterly. “Here. Take it. Pray and throw it into the fountain. I hope it will bring you good fortune.”

 

Hesitantly, Oscar took the coin and rolled it around in his hand, examining it. It looked like any other regular coin. The lady reached into her pocket again and took out another coin. She seemed to make sure he was looking at her before bringing the coin to her lips, closing her eyes, staying that way for about 5 seconds, then threw the coin into the fountain. It landed with a small _‘plink’_ and sank to the bottom.

 

“Now you try.” She said. Oscar looked down at the coin once more, then hesitantly brought it to his lips and closed his eyes, waiting for five seconds.

 

**_May this bring you good fortune, Oscar._ **

 

Oscar then tossed the coin into the fountain, and much like the other one, it landed with a small _‘plink’_ and sank to the bottom. For some reason, he felt as if a huge weight was lifted off his chest. The red-haired lady chuckled happily and grinned.

 

“Good job.”

 

“...Thank you.”

 

They stood in silence for a couple of seconds, snowflakes falling slowly and silently around them as people passed. None of them seemed to approach the fountain as they were there.

 

“So. What is a young man such as yourself doing in the city all alone this early in the morning?” The lady finally asked. Oscar laughed nervously, wanting to desperately to rub the back of his neck. Instead, he opted for twisting his coat sleeve.

 

“I had to get some bandages for my sister. She fell down the stairs and got a big bruise last night, and she doesn’t know how to engage her aura.” He didn’t stutter! He was making progress. The lady smiled as if she knew something and went back to staring into the water, which was almost frozen by now.

 

“Well, I hope your sister feels better soon. Falling down the stairs isn’t a very fun feeling.” She smiled almost bitterly. Oscar looked down, shrinking down into his coat a bit and hiding his mouth and nose into his scarf. They stood in silence for a bit more, and Oscar finally worked up the courage to ask something.

 

“Hey, what’s your-” When he looked up to ask the question, however, the lady was gone. The flowers she was holding were resting on the fountain now. The red flowers floated in the water in a line and went around the entire fountain slowly. The lady was nowhere to be seen.

 

**_...How odd._ **

 

_Did you get a strange sense of… deja vu just now?_

 

**_...I did, Oscar. Although, I can’t really put my finger on why._ **

 

Thinking about it just made Oscar uneasy, so he just decided to be on his way. He had bandages to put on and things to hide.

 

The walk back was a bit more nerve-wracking. People were beginning to fill the streets and were stopping to talk, which meant that Oscar had to swerve and squeeze his way through the crowds. Halfway on his walk back home, Ozpin let out a panicked ‘oh gods’, and Oscar asked,

 

“What? What is it?”

 

**_You didn’t leave a note._ **

 

If Oscar didn’t get home soon, this could quickly turn into the biggest disaster ever. Stumbling over his footing, Oscar began to run and flew down the streets, dodging people and turning corners so quickly that Ozpin had to tell him to calm down. It would be fine though, right? Everyone slept in a lot. Maybe they wouldn’t be awake. Hopefully they wouldn’t be awake.

 

And then he was back at the house. He picked up the spare key from under the rug and opened the door. He stepped in quietly and returned the spare key back under the rug. He took his coat off and was about to take his scarf off, but he turned around and was met with the 8 pairs of sleepy eyes. Jaune had gotten up to turn the light on, so it was no longer dark in the room.

 

“Where did you go?” He asked, yawning right after he said so. Oscar gulped. He might as well tell them the truth.

 

“Well, I went to go get more bandages. Y’know, so I could cover up my freckles.” He replies smoothly, moving to take his scarf off. He did it carefully, though. “The old ones were falling off, so I had to get some new ones.” He put his scarf on the coat rack right on top of his coat.

 

Then he noticed everyone’s eyes go wide. He furrowed his eyebrows together. “What?” Although he didn’t know what was happening, he couldn’t help but feel a little panicky. He felt as if something was hanging on his back, so he reached back and grabbed it. “Do I have some chocolate on me?” He joked. He brought what was on his back to the front so he could see it -

 

And it was his old bandage.

 

“...Oscar…” Blake said softly, her hand reaching out slightly. She yanked it back and bit her lower lip. The farm boy just stared at the bandages in his hands and let out a choked gasp, the panic that sudden rose in his chest indescribable. Ozpin was saying something frantically, but his mind was so clouded with panic that he wasn’t listening.

 

_Oh, gods they saw my scars oh gods they’re going to think I’m a freak oh gods they’re going to hate me oh gods why am I so stupid **oh gods I’m going to have to tell them oh gods I can’t breathe oh gods I can’t breathe-**_

 

Luckily, Ren seemed to be one step ahead. In a flash, he was in front of the boy, who had his hands wrapped around his neck in an attempt to hide the large, dark scars that were a constant reminder. The taller male put one hand on his cheek to activate his semblance, blinked in surprise at the amount of panic Oscar was experiencing, then opted for using two hands. He put his other hand on Oscar’s hands and that seemed to do the trick.

 

Hazel eyes grew hazy with drowsiness and Oscar gave a weak, choked gasp again before falling forward. Ren gently lowered him to the ground as everyone crowded around the two of them, gasping and making shocked faces. Oscar, with the last grip on consciousness he had left, whimpered and tried to curl into Ren as much as he could to hide his neck.

 

“Give them space!” Weiss yelled, gesturing for everyone to get back. Ren was cradling him like a child, whispering small reassurances as he kept working. Ozpin was whispering reassurances as well, telling him to keep on breathing and to use the feather. The brunet’s eyes slipped closed and he tried to imagine that golden feather, but he slipped away before he could.

_When Oscar was floating, drifting in and out of consciousness, he saw flashes. Flashes of his Aunt, his… parents… everyone. Ozpin tried to get to him a couple of times but couldn’t seem to. Oscar just kept on drifting, farther and farther…_

 

And he drifted until he heard the clapping of hands and quiet, almost nervous laughter. Ozpin hummed in relief but said nothing. Oscar forced his eyes to open, biting back a groan. Everyone was sitting on the floor, besides Qrow, playing some sort of hand game. Jaune was pouting, and Yang was stifling her giggles as best as she could. The farm boy smiled to himself a bit, happy that they seemed to be enjoying himself. Then he remembered the reason he was here, shot up into a sitting position and putting his hands to his neck.

 

Someone must’ve bandaged him up again; the familiar feeling of the fluffy bandages settled on the tips of his gloves. Unfortunately, when he shot up, all eyes were on him. Qrow’s eyebrow raised, a frown on his face.

 

_Oh, gods he’s disappointed -_

 

“Heya, kiddo.” Qrow said, his voice rough. “An… explanation would be nice-”

 

“Uncle Qrow…” Ruby got up and slapped her uncle on the shoulder, glaring at him. She then turned to Oscar, who was trying to hide under the covers, and gave him a reassuring smile. “We’re glad you’re feeling better, Oscar.”

 

_Where have I heard that before?_

 

“But Uncle Qrow is right. We promised not to keep secrets from one another.” Yang crossed her arms behind Ruby and looked down as she spoke. Ozpin grimaced in his mind, and Oscar let out a long sigh. He ran a hand through his hair and huffed, trying to figure out how to phrase it.

  
“Well, um, I-I…”

 

_…_

 

_“Mom! Mom! Look! The flowers are blooming again!” A nine-year-old Oscar Pine exclaimed excitedly, pointing towards the lilac flowers that were blooming in the forest. His mother smiled and walked over, her dark brown hair falling over her shoulder and her freckled nose scrunched up slightly._

 

_“Yes, I see, Oscar.” She said with a small chuckle, moving to stand next to her son. “They’re beautiful.”_

 

_“Should we pick some? I think it would cheer up Aunt Elfa.” He said with a bright smile._

 

_Ah, that was something he should probably explain as well - his Aunt had just gone through a breakup via cheating. His ‘uncle’ was cheating on his Aunt with another girl he had met on a training mission (he was a hunter) and his Aunt had found out in the worst way possible. His father was currently trying to cheer her up, though, so it was just him and his mother for now._

 

_His mother patiently shook her head, moving to put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “No, Oscar. Flowers belong here, in the wild. Besides,” She winked at him. “You can cheer your Auntie up with your new song. I’m sure she would love it.” Oscar’s hazel eyes lit up as he grinned._

 

_“Of course!” A figure in the distance caught his attention, and soon, he was running down the path to hug his father. “Dad!”_

 

_His dad grinned and ruffled the boy’s hair before grabbing him a chokehold and nooging him. “There’s my boy!”_

 

_“Dad!” Oscar giggled, squirming his way out of his father’s hold and grabbing his hand. “Come look at the flowers!” His mother smiled from where she stood, and his father chuckled and began to walk over to the small patch of flowers.”_

 

_“Hey, Dorothy.” He said, giving her a small peck on the lips once he got over. Oscar made a noise that sounded like ‘ick!” and his mother smiled._

 

_“Hello, Brendan. Any luck?” She asked, her smile becoming a bit sadder. Oscar waddled off to the side, knowing that he didn’t have any business listening to the conversation. His parents had always told him that whenever grown-ups were talking about something, he had to gauge the mood. And right now, the mood was sad and angry. So, that meant he shouldn’t listen._

 

_Oscar hummed the song he was going to sing for his Aunt Elfa (he vaguely remembered it being called ‘Winter Song’, although he didn’t know why; he should try and find it sometime) and stared at the flowers, feeling their petals and sniffing the nice fragrance. He giggled to himself and looked back at his parents to exclaim something, but he noticed that his dad was… crying. It was silent and subtle, but it was still there. His mother was wiping his tears away, his eyes full of concern._

 

_Oscar would’ve asked if everything was okay. Looking back on it now, he should have acted as a buffer and asked if they wanted to go inside for some hot chocolate. But everything stopped when he noticed a pair of red eyes peering out from the darkness of the forest. The freckled boy gulped, standing up and narrowing his eyes. He had heard about the grimm - but he had only seen one. And they had indistinguishable red, glowing eyes._

 

_“...Mom? Da-”_

 

_Before he could get a word out, an Ursa (he later learned what they were called when he was drifting in and out of consciousness, his Aunt cradling him in the room-) jumped out of the forest, lunging right for him. Oscar screamed and put his hands up, but nothing came. When he peeked out, he saw that his dad was holding the grimm back, yelling to his wife. Everything became ringing in his ears after that, His mom grabbed him, sobbing and yelling for his dad. She began running and covered Oscar’s eyes when the Ursa just slashed at his dad. He wasn’t stupid - he knew what that meant. Oscar screamed for his dad, reaching out for him, but to no avail. His mom pulled him away and they both ran, screaming for Aunt Elfa._

 

_His parents were just farmhands! They weren’t huntsman - they were just simple farmers who knew how to fend off small grimm and wouldn’t let Oscar see the grimm. Now, they were getting up-close and personal with a big one with no supplies or way of defending themselves._

 

_The Ursa ran out from behind the trees and began charging at them, bellowing loudly. Before it could reach them, his mother pushed him forward and he went crashing down to the ground. Before he could turn around and reach for his mother, the grimm was on her, digging into her with its claws._

 

_Oscar’s breath hitched as the grimm looked to him with its glowing eyes and began to stalk towards him, kicking dirt on his mother’s body. His body shook violently, and in a last attempt of salvation, he screamed for his Aunt._

 

_The Ursa was upon him, and the gods knew he tried to fight back. He sobbed brokenly when claws slashed at his neck and dug into it; he could taste blood pooling into his mouth as he frantically kicked his legs, screaming for help._

 

_A gunshot rang in the air. The Ursa stumbled back. Another gunshot. It stumbled back again. This went on at least three more times until the grimm collapsed, turning into dust and disappearing._

 

_Oscar choked on both his sobs and on the blood that he could taste. His Aunt dropped to her knees next to him, crying for him to stay with her and for him not to fall asleep. But he could only focus on the thought that his parents were just… killed in front of him. Everything got fuzzy as Oscar went completely limp, his Aunt screaming for help. She then decided to get up and run to the nearest place where she could get help, and that’s all he remembered._

 

_(At this point, everyone was gasping and covering their mouths with their hands. Everyone always reacted this way. But this was always the point where Oscar would chuckle bitterly, but a hand on his bandage and curl his hand into a fist. ‘There’s more,’ he would always say. The look on everyone’s face would have been priceless if the situation wasn’t so unfortunate.)_

 

_When Oscar regained consciousness, he was sitting on a hospital bed, bandages wrapped around his neck and his Aunt squeezing his hand beside him. Although she was asleep, her grip was strong. The freckled boy winced when he moved his neck to the side to get a better view of his Aunt. She looked as if she hadn’t slept in days; he’d best not disturb her._

 

_His memories were a bit fuzzy after that, actually. He couldn’t recall a lot of things, but he just remembered being told about his parents, his Aunt crying a lot, trying to force himself to cry but nothing coming out, and then finally breaking down in the form of having a panic attack._

 

_(His description of this was so… emotionless and monotone. He hated reliving this. But he couldn’t keep secrets, like everyone else said. Secrets just leaded to hate and doubt, right? Secrets just caused trouble.)_

 

_(He guessed he caused trouble.)_

 

_So, he moved in with his Aunt. His wounds were to be kept hidden because they scarred over, and even though he didn’t need to keep them covered, he forced himself to. If he had them off, it would be a constant reminder of the fact that he lost a lot that day. His Aunt helped him a lot, actually - they would breathe in and out together a lot, they would cook together, listen to music together, sing together, farm together, and other things. They refused to leave each other’s side for a second for a year and a half. And even though they weren’t as attached to the hip as they were before, they still enjoyed each other’s company and would hang out frequently._

 

_That’s why it was so hard to leave the farm, he explained. He and his Aunt had developed such a strong bond over the past couple of years that it was almost impossible to leave. He left a note for her - a long note that explained everything. And in that note, he promised to come back. He promised that we would come back, unharmed and okay and alive. He intended to keep that promise._

 

_…_

 

And Oscar ended with that, his head hung low and his hands wrapped around his neck softly. He bit his lower lip, waiting for a reaction from anyone. Hazel eyes flickered upward and opened in surprise; everyone was looking down, looking saddened - Ruby and Nora were even crying. His eyebrows furrowed because _haven’t people gone through much worse than that? Haven’t people gone through so much more that what I just described?_

 

He gulped and tried to shrink back when Qrow was the first to approach him. He sat on the edge of the bed and just simple pulled Oscar in a hug. Ozpin let out a shaky sigh and chuckled wetly and the boy nearly choked on his own spit. **_Don’t worry about me, Oscar._**

 

 _You didn’t know?_ Oscar though in disbelief, hesitantly hugging Qrow back.

 

**_I don’t go into memories unless I’m given permission. Oscar, I’m… I’m really sorry._ **

 

I will not cry, Oscar told himself when more and more people joined the hug. I will not cry. I will not cry. I’ve cried too much already.

 

Much like that morning he woke up in the hospital bed, he felt rather numb. He didn’t feel happy, or sad, or mad, or panicky. Just numb.

 

But with everyone’s arms around him protectively (and Ozpin’s whispered reassurances), he just knew that everything would turn out well in the end.

 

_(Hmm... maybe this was his miracle...)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry(tm)


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is more team bonding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEWWO  
> im sorry this took so long school had been Not Very Kind to me (tm)  
> im making my way through the chapters lmao  
> im planning something really cool next (hopefully) , so stay tuned for that !!  
> enjoy owo

Jaune almost screamed when he felt something wet press against his chest.

 

It was 3:47 in the morning - he could see the clock from where he was laying. He reminded himself there was nothing to be worried about and forced himself to look down. Laying there was none other than Oscar, looking up at him with nervous eyes and a probably red face. The soft ‘pitter patter’ of the rain filled the awkward silence between the two.

 

“I-I’m sorry,” He whispered. “I-It’s just that… um… Qrow was-”

 

“It’s fine. You don’t have to say anything else.” Jaune said with a small frown. “But… that doesn’t explain why you’re wet…”

 

They both went silent when Nora snorted in her sleep and rolled over, practically draping herself over Ren. The two remained silent until the coast was clear, and then Oscar answered. “U-um, I was standing out in the rain. I couldn’t sleep - it wasn’t too cold, I promise!” He whispered-shouted the last part, his eyes widening slightly. Jaune couldn’t help but laugh silently.

 

“I know, I know. And you want to stay here for the night because…”

 

“...It’s too cold in my bed alone.” The boy replied sheepishly, huffing when Jaune’s shoulders shook with silent laughter. “H-hey! Y-you would’ve done the same if you were standing out in the rain!”

 

“...but you said it wasn’t too cold.”

 

Oscar tried to cross his arms, but it was too awkward the follow through with. So, he just opted for pouting and looking down. The blond ruffled Oscar’s wet hair and made sure to keep his laughing quiet. “Hey. Why don’t we get you dry first, at least? We don’t want you getting sick again.”

 

“...Fine.”

 

The two got out of bed quietly and Oscar went to go dry himself while Jaune began to make hot chocolate in the kitchen. The freckled boy came back with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and his hair sticking up in multiple different directions. His eyes lit up when he saw the hot chocolate and smiled with shy appreciation. “...Thank you. You didn’t have to.” He murmured, taking a mug gratefully and taking a small sip. Jaune smiled and resisted the urge to ruffle the boy’s hair again.  

 

“It’s not a problem.” He replied. “But… would you care to tell me why you were standing outside in the rain? You should be sleeping…” Oscar rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, his shy smile turning into a bitter one.

 

“I can’t sleep. I can never sleep. Rain helps, I guess. It reminds me of my farm. The soft taps of the rain reminds me of the barn and how I would stay and watch from my window… grateful that I didn’t have to water all the plants and crops and grateful for an excuse to curl up with my Aunt and play a board game or read a book.” He looked down into his cup. “But you’re right. I shouldn’t be outside this late.”

 

Jaune frowned as the boy curled into himself, one hand unconsciously coming to touch his bandages. The blond’s eyes flickered up to find Nora and Ren hiding behind a wall, one finger over their mouths in a motion to stay quiet. Biting back a laugh, Jaune put a hand on Oscar’s shoulder. “I’ll tell you what. You go find a board game to play, and I’ll deal with the two eavesdroppers over there.” He winked, and Oscar’s eyes lit up. He turned around and the other two members of JNR stepped out of the dark; Nora was pouting, and Ren playfully rolled his eyes.

 

“...O-oh. Sorry for waking you up.” The farm boy muttered, playing with the hem of his shirt. “I’m going to go find a board game.”  
  


Before anyone could say anything, he was gone, his mug of hot chocolate on the counter and his blanket resting on a chair. Jaune let out a soft sigh and ran his fingers through his hair.

 

“...You guys have to go back to sleep -”

 

“And miss the opportunity to play a board game? No way.” Nora crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. Her hair was mussed and sticking in a million different directions - maybe that was why what she was doing was so funny. “Board games at 4 in the morning are the best.”

 

“How would you know?” Ren asked teasingly, and the ginger rolled her eyes.

 

“Duh! I read it on the internet.” She stood on her tiptoes. “Renny, you can leave if you want, but I’m staying with Jaune and Oscar.” Nora locked arms with Jaune and leaned against the male, who blushed in reply and smiled weakly at the taller male. Ren let out an amused huff and smiled.

 

“I never said I didn’t want to stay with my two favorite people.” He replied. “C’mon. Let’s get all the mats off the table so we can play properly.”

 

By the time Oscar came back with a box with the word “Operation” on it, the members of JNR were sitting at the table, whispering to one another with grins on their faces. Jaune turned to Oscar, seeming a bit more cheerful than before.

 

“Operation? Looks interesting - I’ve never played it before.” He hummed, and Oscar slid into a chair (and Jaune tried to ignore how adorably tiny he looked in the chair).

 

“I’ve never played it either - let’s read the instructions.” They took everything out of the box, set it up according to the instructions, and they let Oscar go first.

 

The instructions had said ‘don’t touch the sides’, but they hadn’t said anything about the loud, piercing noise that would sound if you touched the side. Oscar let out a loud yelp and dropped the pair of tweezers and Ren nearly fell out of his seat. After a couple of seconds of giggling uncontrollably, Nora ran to get another board game that didn’t involve waking up the entire house.

 

She came back with a game called “Snakes and Ladders.”

 

“I remember playing this with my sisters.” Jaune excitedly said, taking all the game pieces out of the box. He began explaining how it worked, rolling the dice and helping the others move their pieces.

 

Ren had hit a bunch of ‘snakes’ on his way up, so he just decided to give up altogether and sat back in his chair, pouting rather adorably. Jaune gave Ren a quick peck on the cheek while Nora rolled, exclaiming a bit too loudly about how she got double sixes.

 

Oscar huffed, his cheeks turning red when he had landed on a particularly long snake that sent him way back. He crossed his arms and sat back in his chair, muttering about how stressful this game was. Jaune laughed and ruffled his hair.

 

“Stress isn’t good for the baby.” He quipped, and Oscar’s face turned a new shade of red. He buried his face in his hands and groaned.

 

“Please. Don’t say that. I’m not a baby.”

 

“That’s right - you’re the baby.” Nora said seriously. She then grinned. “You are _the_ baby!”

 

“You are much younger than us.” Ren agreed, nodding. It was hard to take him seriously with his hair sticking up like he just got electrocuted in a cartoon. “And stress isn’t good for someone so young. Therefore, stress isn’t good for the baby.”

 

Oscar wanted so bad to retaliate- Jaune could see it on his face - but bit his tongue and rolled his eyes playfully. “Alright - you win. Just roll before someone says something even more embarrassing...”

 

In the end, Nora ended up winning. She cheered quietly and put the game back as Ren stood up and stretched. “Want to watch a movie?” He asked, chuckling quietly at the way the blond and the brunet’s eyes lit up. “Okay, okay. What movie?”

 

They decided to watch the movie in the dark. It would be like a movie theatre that way. After much deliberation (it took a long time for them to decide on a movie), they decided on the movie “The Greatest Showman” because Nora insisted, she wanted to watch a musical. They gathered on the couch, a tangled mess and put it on.

 

Jaune didn’t even notice that the sky was turning a soft orange color. He had zoned out a while ago; Ren’s head was on his shoulder, Oscar’s head was resting in his lap and his arms were wrapped around the blond’s waist, and Nora was snuggling against Ren. When Jaune imagined ‘relaxing’, he imagined exactly this - just sitting down, watching a movie and staying with some of his favorite people in the world.

 

He wouldn’t trade anything for this.

 

Jaune let out a soft yawn, apologized quietly when Oscar made a small noise of distress and decided to let himself fall asleep. Hopefully the others wouldn’t wake them up in the morning…

 

…

 

“...my gods. They’re so cute!” Was the first thing Jaune heard when he regained consciousness. That was 100% Ruby. He huffed slightly to himself, the thought _who dare disturb me from my slumber_ invading his mind and making him smile a bit. What time was it? They probably slept way into the day…

 

“Take a picture!” That was probably Yang. There was the sound of fumbling, a snap, and then silence. Maybe if he pretended that he was asleep, they would go away, and he would get some more rest…

 

“We should wake them up. It’s, like, 2 in the afternoon. The gods know why we woke up so late…” Came the exasperated voice of Weiss. Jaune imagined her running her hand over her face and huffing.

 

“But we shouldn't disturb them.” Blake replied. “If they slept in this late, it’s for a reason. You know Ren - he’s always up at unreasonable times.”

 

“Quiet down, kids.” Qrow. Jaune tried not to smile as the adult shooed the others away, whispering for them to go into town or train or something. After a couple of moments of shuffling and silence, Qrow chuckled.

 

“I know you’re awake, kid.” Jaune held his breath for a second before exhaling heavily and opening one eye. He tried to look annoyed, but the bright light made him wince. “Sorry, sorry.” The blinds were closed, and the lights were shut off. Jaune could open his eyes properly then. Qrow ran a hand through his hair and smiled.

 

“What happened last night? It’s not like you guys to sleep until 2 in the afternoon.” He made sure to keep his voice low. Jaune snorted quietly and shook his head, trying to be mindful of Ren’s head on his shoulder.

 

“We just… had some team bonding time.” He replied. Qrow raised an eyebrow and then smiled like he understood something.

 

“...Well, alright. You get back to sleep, kid. I don’t even want to know what time you all were up until.”

 

“Lucky for you, I don’t even know what time we were up until.”

 

“That just makes things worse.”

 

Jaune almost choked on his own spit as Qrow walked away, a smug smile on his face. Right. They probably went to sleep at the crack of dawn - which, in Argus, is at 6 in the morning. And it was two. So, if he did the math…

 

They got 8 hours of sleep. Not bad.

 

Jaune allowed himself to close his eyes again, his eyelids suddenly feeling heavy. What’s one more hour of sleeping?

 

…

 

After what felt like 3 seconds, Jaune woke up again. He blinked the blurriness out of his vision and strained his neck to look at the clock. It was 4:30. He could hear the soft murmur of voices in the other room. Nora and Ren were still asleep…

 

And a missing farm boy.

 

Well - at least his legs weren’t sleeping anymore.

 

Carefully, Jaune lifted himself off the couch, moved Ren and Nora so that they were curled up against one another, gave them both a small kiss on the forehead and decided to go to the kitchen for a drink. He probably shouldn’t even bother to take his pajamas off.

 

Oscar was in the kitchen when he walked in. The brunet was sitting on his counter with his knees curled into his chest and staring at the microwave that was counting down from 1 minute and 26 seconds. Jaune couldn’t help but laugh; Oscar always sat in the weirdest places.

 

(He remembered that one time when Oscar was sitting on the bookshelf in his room, reading a book, and scared the literal heck out of Jaune.)

The freckled boy’s head snapped up and hazel eyes flickered to meet blue ones. He let out a soft sigh and slumped against the cabinets, haziness still in his eyes. Jaune walked over and ruffled Oscar’s hair, looking towards the microwave.

 

“Still tired?”  
  


A small nod.

 

“Making hot chocolate?”

 

Another small nod, then a slight shiver.

 

“Are you cold?”

 

Hesitance, then another small nod. Jaune put his hand to Oscar’s forehead and shook his head. “You don’t have a fever.”

 

“...that’s ‘cause ‘m a bad bitch. You can’t kill me.”

 

And that caught Jaune so off-guard that he doubled over laughing. Oscar snorted into his hand and looked towards the microwave that was now at 34 seconds. The blond wiped a tear from his eye and put a hand on Oscar’s head.

 

“Watch your language, young man.”

 

“...’m sorry.”

 

Silence. The microwaved beeped, and when Oscar made no movement to open it, Jaune did. He took out the cup of hot chocolate and held it out to Oscar, who moved sluggishly and wrapped his arms around the mug. “All we need to do is get you a blanket… and maybe sweater… wait…”

 

And that’s how Jaune got the bright idea to go shopping with the boy. After Oscar finished the hot chocolate, the two got dressed, left a note and headed out to the town, looking in every store and checking out different colors that would suit the boy.

 

They even went to far as to ask for fashion advice from Ozpin. Ozpin had given Oscar directions, and they found themselves in front of a big clothing store. The rest was up to them, he said.

 

In no time, Oscar walked out of the dressing room in a green and red coat with multiple belts, new pants, and a whole new style. “Your little brother looks so cute!” One of the workers had said to Jaune on the side as Oscar admired his outfit in the mirror.

 

“...Yeah. He does.”

 

And the outfit wasn’t even that expensive! Oscar insisted that he would find some way to pay Jaune back, but the blond wasn’t having it. The two went back and forth the entire walk home; Nora would’ve called it a ‘nice war’ if she were there.

 

Jaune eventually won out, saying that Oscar could pay him back in hugs (which the gods knew the two of them needed), and the boy responded to that by giving Jaune the biggest hug that he had received in the past two days.

 

(How precious.)

 

Oscar flew to his room to change when they got back. Nora and Ren were awake and still in their pajamas, and Jaune, of course, had to give them both a hug when he got back. He rounded up everyone in the living room because of the ‘big surprise’ they had. Moments later, Oscar came timidly shuffling into the living room, and not even Qrow could suppress a gasp.

 

Jaune was worried about Oscar last night (this morning?). The boy had some weird habit and unfortunate experiences.

 

But when he took one look at the beaming smile on the freckled boy’s face, he somehow knew everything was going to be okay.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which there is a fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH GOD (TM)  
> im sorry this chapter is really all over the place but thats mainly because i dont know how to write fight scenes sksks  
> yeah this chapter is all over the place, but id like to thank my dadmom, pheonix for inspiring me we stan <3 !!  
> so yeah this is a bit  
> uhh crazy  
> but i promise itll be better i guess  
> okay so enjoy lmao

The fact that some of Salem’s goons were in Atlas was mind boggling to Oscar. How did they catch up so fast?! Who was that short, pink and brown-haired lady? Why did they have to attack innocent civilians to get a point across? Why didn’t they just attack the group and not innocent people? Why did they have to set that house on fire?

 

All these negative emotions had brought grimm to the city, and on top of the girl and Cinder, they had to deal with the grimm. Things weren’t looking too good.

 

Oscar gritted his teeth and adjusted his grip on his cane, taking deep breaths in through his nose and out through his mouth. He tried not to let it show on his face, but he was very, very scared. He would never get used to the feel of fighting something other than grimm.

 

“Hmm… what do we have here?” Cinder’s words dragged on, and Oscar cringed inwardly, her voice like nails on a chalkboard to him. Ozpin growled, and Oscar’s eyes narrowed. Cinder’s amber eyes flickered from Ruby, to Blake, to Qrow, to him - and she smirked.

 

“Ozpin.” She looked at him up and down. “Ever since I saw you at Haven, I wondered why you chose to reincarnate into some…. Puny child. Did you even have a plan?” She sneered, and Oscar bit back a retort, deciding not to reply at all. When a couple of seconds of silence passed, Cinder chuckled. “No reply? Figures. You’re a coward.”

 

“You know, there isn’t usually this much talk in a fight.” Qrow said through gritted teeth. He gripped his weapon handle tighter, and Cinder raised an eyebrow. She then looked toward the shorter girl, nodded, and the shorter girl vanished.

 

And was suddenly in front of him.

  
With an alarmed cry, Oscar stumbled back and held his cane up, blocking a blow from her umbrella. And with that, the battle was on.

 

Oscar grunted and thrusted his cane forward, trying not to let the panic consume him when she just stepped out of the way and disappeared. **_Oscar be on guard. Be sure to breathe. Keep a level head._**

 

The freckled boy let out a small sigh and looked around, seeing Qrow, Ruby and Jaune attacking Cinder and the rest trying to get rid of the grimm. Oscar grimaced at all the destruction, wishing that they could have done something more. When he was distracted, the short girl just appeared out of nowhere and kicked him to the ground.

 

This was just going to be an ongoing struggle - wasn’t it?

 

Oscar rolled to the side when the girl tried to stab him with her umbrella and got up, trying to get himself a bit closer to the crowd - just in case. He was always doubting himself, and even now, he felt as if he couldn’t really do a lot. The small girl smirked and cut him off, slashing at him with her umbrella (which was way too pointy). The umbrella grazed his cheek, leaving a small cut and causing him to stumble back in alarm.

 

**_Back straight, chin up, keep your wits about you and stay focused. Breathe - and go._ **

 

Oscar lunged forward, managing a couple of hits on the girl before she backflipped back next to Cinder, who created a gust of wind that knocked everyone back a couple of feet.

 

Then, before Oscar could say ‘yee haw’, Cinder was right in front of him with her fire sword. Oscar blocked a slice and retaliated, grunting and ignoring all the yelps of his name. Their weapons met, and the boy and the maiden were face to face. At first, Cinder looked surprised at his strength, but then laughed, her eyes bright and full of malice. “Tell me, Ozpin,” She said with a smirk, taking a menacing step forward and causing Oscar to stumble back, his arms shaking. “Did it hurt when I killed you?”

 

Oscar felt sick to his stomach. That one second of weakness he showed was just an opening for Cinder. She pulled away her sword and kicked Oscar in the stomach, sending him flying into a building wall. He fell to the ground with a soft cry and a thud. His aura flickered and he cursed inwardly, ignoring the indignant huff from Ozpin.

 

“Weak.” Cinder scoffed. “I thought you would be stronger.”

 

“Get away from him!” Nora, out of nowhere, jumped in and swung her hammer at full force. Cinder dodged it just in time and started fighting against Nora, giving Oscar enough time to get into a kneeling position.

 

_Breathe. Clear your mind. You got this._

 

And just as he had practiced with Qrow, vines shot right out of the ground and slithered around a bunch of grimm, the girl and Cinder, trapping them. The grimm disintegrated quickly, but Cinder just burned through his vine and the girl just seemed to glitch out of it. The two regrouped in the middle of the battle area, none of them seeming to be tired.

 

Oscar’s hand came to his side as he gritted his teeth to suppress a small whimper. Nora ran over to him and put a hand on his shoulder, a weak smile on her face. “Good job, Oscar. Hang in there, okay? We’ll help you out.” The freckled boy smiled weakly back and stood up a bit straighter, his hazel eyes flickering to where the two villains stood. Nora’s bright expression turned into one of anger as she leapt forward and attacked the pink and brown-haired lady. Cinder’s lips curled into a sneer as she took a step forward and held her arms out.

 

“I thought this would be easy… seems like you all plan on being a bit more annoying than I anticipated…” She directed her attention towards Ruby, who was occupied with fighting a group of grimm on the opposite side. Before she even made a move, Oscar knew what Cinder was doing. He slammed his hands down on the floor and concentrated all his energy into using his semblance again.

 

**_Oscar, this isn’t a good idea-_ **

 

It was a stretch, but he managed to grow a vine that wrapped itself around Cinder’s hand. She growled, trying to tug her way out of the vines. Hazel eyes met amber.

 

“...You’ve been nothing but a pest, haven’t you, Ozpin?!” Cinder snapped, obviously losing her patience. Oscar, feeling incredibly tired, tried to glare at the maiden, but it obviously wasn’t intimidating by the way her expression contorted into a laugh. “Oh, Ozpin - you amuse me! To think you thought that you could stand a chance…”

 

“I’m not. Ozpin.” Oscar said through gritted teeth, his grip on his cane so hard that his palms were hurting. Cinder raised an eyebrow and looked as if she were about to laugh, but a startled yelp interrupted her. Qrow was stumbling back, his eyes wide and his face flushed. He looked totally overrun.

 

“Qrow!” Oscar exclaimed worriedly, not being able to help the rising panic. The maiden, unbeknownst to Oscar, formulated an idea. She cackled, immediately drawing the freckled boy’s attention.

 

“Isn’t that just cute?” She teased, malice dripping from her words as if they were drenched in it. “How about instead of killing you… I kill everyone you love. Starting with him. Then little miss red over there.” Something snapped in Oscar when he saw just a burst of fire being thrown at an occupied and vulnerable Qrow.

 

 **** _“NO!”_  
  
  


With a sudden burst of energy, Oscar ran forwards towards Qrow and _jumped_ because what kind of person would he be if he didn’t save the ones he loved what kind of person would he be if he just stood there being weak what kind of person -

 

**_OSCAR!_ **

 

The last thing he remembered was the smell of fire and a scream.

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

Qrow felt like his heart had _stopped_ completely when Oscar, _his kid_ , just threw himself in front of a _maiden_ blast that was meant for him. The scream that came out of Oscar was just as heart wrenching. He had hit the ground with a sickening thud and rolled a couple of times to the side. With newfound energy, Qrow quickly defeated the grimm he was facing and frantically stumbled over to where Oscar was, shielding the boy with his body.

 

Gods - the boy was a mess. His clothes (his new clothes that he was so excited about - that he said made him feel like a small prince) were burnt and tattered, his skin was covered in burns and he was completely and totally out of it. Qrow sat Oscar up against him, patting down the extra fire and holding him close to his chest.

 

“Shit, shit, shit, shit, **shit -** kid!” Things weren’t supposed to be like this - they were supposed to get groceries today! They were supposed to sit down and play Uno until 1 in the morning! Things weren’t supposed to be this bad -

 

“...Well.” Qrow turned around to find Cinder, slowly approaching them (did she do everything so dramatically?), a smirk on her face. “That didn’t go as plan. But I have to be honesty - that worked out even better than I thought it would.” It took every fiber in Qrow’s being not to get up right that instant and just end her. Instead, he just continued holding Oscar, asking himself why he hadn’t paid attention to the kid more. “And I hope you know who’s next, bi-”

 

Before she could finish her sentence, however, a blur of white and pink barreled into her and sent the maiden flying into the building wall. Ruby and Nora stood in front of Cinder, panting and gripping their weapons so hard that they were shaking.

 

“Your business is with me, not him!” Ruby exclaimed, aiming her scythe at Cinder. “So, let them be!”

 

“Let me see him!” Jaune yelled from the other side of the battlefield. He ran towards the two but was stopped abruptly by Neo (Qrow vaguely remembered her being Roman’s henchwoman…). He swung, missed, and then Ren came in out of nowhere and knocked the female to side. With this freeway, Jaune took the opportunity to run over to Qrow and Oscar, immediately dropping to his knees next to the two. He winced and hissed, his hands twitching.

 

“Oh gods…” When he noticed Qrow’s panicked look he smiled weakly. “I can do this. I just need cover.”

 

“We’re on it!” Yang and Blake dropped in, and despite Yang’s cocky smile and Blake’s reassuring one, worry was etched onto both of their faces. Jaune nodded gratefully, and Qrow couldn’t help but hold Oscar closer to him.

 

“Thanks, guys.” He directed his attention back to the unconscious farm boy. “Thank the gods his head is okay - that would’ve been much tougher. I’ll start with his legs. This might be a slow process, though.”

 

“Just don’t wear yourself out, kid.” Qrow said sincerely. “Please.”

 

With a noncommittal noise, Jaune began to get to work. It hadn’t even been a minute and Qrow thought that it was taking forever; he just wanted his kid to be okay. He just wanted all his kids to be okay.

 

About 5 minutes into the process, Qrow couldn’t take it any longer. He gently laid Oscar on the ground and stood up, taking out his weapon.

 

“...Qrow…?” Jaune asked softly.

 

“You stay here. You have Yang and Blake to guard you, right? I’m going to go help out in the meantime.” The blond frowned but said nothing in protest. With a soft sigh, Qrow rushed forward with his sights set on Cinder, a person so evil and consumed with the idea of revenge that she failed to see the consequences of her actions.

 

People like that don’t change.

 

Qrow hopped right into battle, blocking a blow that was meant for Ruby and just running in, no plan and not holding back.

 

“Ruby, Nora - go help Ren. I’ll take care of her.”

 

“But Uncle Qrow-”

 

“Go.”

 

Cinder raised an eyebrow as the two girls sped away but let them go. She ran a hand through her hair, not seeming panicked in the slightest.

 

(Well she was going to be very panicked when he was done with her.)

 

“Ah - Branwen. I’m glad we got to meet again.” Cinder, already armed, pointed her sword at him in the most dramatic fashion she could muster. “I can finally put an end to your annoying charade.”

 

And just when he thought she couldn’t get any more annoying.

 

“That’s funny.” He replied, raising an eyebrow. “I’m trying to put an end to yours.”

 

“You’re going to have a tough time doing that.”

 

The battle between maiden and huntsman was underway. Qrow, burning with anger tried to hand heavy blows on her, his attacks quicker and heavier. Cinder, on the other hand, was slow and (dare he say) graceful. She took her time, a cocky smirk remaining on her face the entire time like he was beneath her. The cycle of dodging and trying to attack lasted for a while.

 

“Seems like I underestimated you, Branwen.” Cinder hissed after a bit, her posture a bit more slumped than it was at the beginning. All he had to do was wear her out and then wait for a weakness - that was a good plan, right?

 

“hyAH!” A high-pitched voice rang out in the air, and a blur of red just ran into Cinder and knocked her back. Ruby stood side-by-side with her uncle, her eyes narrowed and her chest heaving. “I’m tired of you killing for no reason and hurting my friends!” She crouched down into the same position Qrow was in, and his heart swelled. “This. Ends. Now.”

 

Cinder laughed as if she had heard the funniest thing in the world. “You really think-”

 

Opening. Qrow lunged forward and just went in, determined to end this fight as quickly as possible. He kicked the maiden right in the stomach and saw Ruby run to the other side of Cinder. She may have been able to keep up before, but now that she was exhausted, she didn’t stand a chance.

 

Her aura broke rather quickly to Qrow’s surprise. Ruby hit her with the blunt side of her scythe and that seemed to be it.

 

Honestly? When Qrow looked down at Cinder, he thought of ending it. Right here, right now. It would be so easy. But before he could do anything, she glitched and faded away. Qrow whirled around to find Neo and Cinder standing in the middle of the battlefield, weapons away and their chins tilted upward.

 

“I’m not one for running, but I’d like to make you all squirm for a bit.” Cinder raised her hands and the moment the fire left her palms, Qrow felt sick. He pulled Ruby out of a danger zone with a plan to herd all his kids into one area, then go after Cinder and Neo, but they were gone by the time he got Ruby to Nora and Ren. Weiss was standing with Yang and Blake in front of Jaune, who was still trying to heal Oscar. Small fire balls were falling everywhere and lighting things on fire - not just in this area, but in a bunch of different areas in the city.

 

The screams of other people made Qrow sick to his stomach.

 

“We have to put out the fire!” Blake exclaimed over the sound of things falling and people screaming.

 

“I’m on it!” Weiss ran to the center of the area and activated the water dust in Myrtenaster and held it up in the air much like Cinder had done. Just like that, most of the fire was out, and you could practically hear the collective sigh of relief that swept through the group of huntresses and huntsmen.

 

“If anyone has any injuries now, tell me.” Qrow sighed, running a hand through his hair.

 

Besides a scrape, a bunch of cuts on an arm, a sprained ankle and a depleted aura, everyone was okay. It was… a miracle that no one was hurt badly.

 

Ruby, obviously drained and scared, clung onto Qrow as he went to go check up on Oscar. “Is he going to be okay?!” She asked worriedly. Jaune let out and exhausted sigh, letting his hands fall to his side.

 

“Yeah. He’ll be fine. I didn’t… I didn’t make a lot of progress, though.”

 

“That’s fine, kid.” Qrow said hurriedly. Before he could say anything else, sirens filled the air and there were a bunch of paramedics on the scene, rushing to make sure that everyone was okay. A lady ran over to where they were standing, a bag bigger than her in her hand.

 

“Who needs help?” She asked, clearly frazzled. When she realized it was obvious, she laughed nervously and dropped down to the freckled boy’s side. “Ah, burns. Okay, okay.”

 

The next couple of minutes were painful. The medic was just all over the place - handing Qrow burn creams and applying burn creams then grabbing water and then putting it back and then grabbing bandages and wrapping them sloppily. Jaune looked up at the huntsman a million times with a confused expression and Ruby had to go seek comfort from her sister because she was crying and laughing at the same time.

 

After what seemed like forever, the medic stood up, wiped her brow, gave a short speech about how only fluffy, feathery blankets should be used, gave him said blanket with bandages and burn creams on top and then just zipped away.

 

Well - at least he knew how to treat the burns, he guessed.

 

“Can you drive us home?” He could hear Yang speaking to one of the medics. “My friend has sprained her ankle and she can’t walk. We also have someone who is completely unconscious.”

 

So, that’s how the gang ended up in an ambulance, being driven back to their house. Nora and Ren ended up having to carry Jaune inside, Yang gave Weiss a piggyback ride and Blake helped Ruby get in the house. After giving the medics a small tip, Qrow gently picked up Oscar and carried him inside, making sure to be soft with the boy.

 

“He’s going to be okay, right?” Ruby asked for the 50th time when Qrow laid Oscar in his bed, making sure to put the fuzzy blanket over him and not his regular one.

 

“...Yeah. He’ll be fine. Just a couple of days of bed rest and he’ll be back on his toes in no time.” The huntsman replied, reaching forward and ruffling her hair. “Get some sleep, kiddo. You’ve earned it.”

 

The rest of the night was spent by Oscar’s side (hasn’t he done this before), guilt eating him up because the only reason why Oscar was like this was because he was open for a second. Just a stroke of bad luck.

 

Qrow, exasperated and exhausted, ran a hand over his face and let out a soft sigh, deciding that he would have a talk with the boy in the morning.

 

For now, all he could do was wait.

 


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which there is recovering

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I CANT BELIEVE I DID THIS KSKS   
> michael scott voice im fast im real fast  
> so yeah you get to see what happens to farm boy   
> but is he okay  
> more at 11

Oscar awoke with a start, his entire body burning with pain so bad that he couldn’t help but let out a small whimper, his chest heaving and tears burning the back of his eyes. He felt as if his chest was being crushed by a giant boulder.

 

 ** _Mother of the gods… Oscar…_** Ozpin sounded as if he was on the edge of having a heart attack. Oscar let out another whimper, wishing that he could just lift a finger without it being painful. **_What were you thinking?_**

 

 _Qrow was going to die!_ Oscar frowned, pushing his thoughts of pain away and focusing on Ozpin. Maybe it would hurt less if he focused on the wizard. Ozpin groaned and Oscar could practically see him hiding his face in his hands.

 

**_Oscar - you could have died._ **

 

_Qrow can’t die!_

 

 **** _You can’t die!_  
  
  


_Why can’t I die? Because you would just reincarnate into another person and ruin another person’s life and you would have to journey all the way across Remnant to find them again?!_  
  
  


Oscar didn’t mean to snap. He just had so many emotions swirling in him, all trapped in a jar. He was trying to desperately to keep the jar locked, but one slipped through the cracks. There was silence, and then Oz let out a soft sigh.

 

**_Oscar. Please don’t think that you are expendable._ **

 

_I am expendable._

 

**_Oscar -_ **

 

_Please. Be quiet. You’re being too loud…_

 

The freckled boy inhaled sharply, wanting to put his hands over his ears because everything was suddenly too loud, the light coming in from the window was too bright, and everything was too overwhelming. The pain that burned through his body seemed to increase more and more, and he was fighting back a scream. He just wanted to bury himself under the covers and cover his ears and pray that the world would go away.

 

Instead, he let out a muffled cry of pain, a couple of tears rolling down his face and dripping onto the pillow. **_Oscar, you must call for someone._** Ozpin said quietly, making sure to keep his voice low. Much more content with his volume of voice, Oscar replied.

 

_I don’t want to wake anyone up. I don’t even know what time it is…_

 

There was a small moment of silence. **_Oscar… you are in pain. You must call out for someone._**

 

Oscar really wasn’t going to call out for someone. But the sudden jolt of pain that shook his entire body was where he drew the line. “...Hello?” He called hoarsely, wincing at the volume of his voice. “Is anyone there?” When there was nothing, he tried again, his throat closing. “Please… hello?”

 

The sound of loud, heavy footsteps flooded his ears, and the farm boy couldn’t resist the urge to cover his ears and squeeze his eyes shut. The good news was that it muffled the sound a bit - the bad news was that it made his arms burn and throb painfully. The door was yanked open, and Oscar didn’t need to open his eyes to know it was Qrow.

 

“Oscar…”

 

“...loud…”

 

Not another word was said after that. There was the sound of the blinds closing, soft footsteps, and then silence. Gratefully, Oscar pulled his hands away from his ears and opened his eyes, not even flinching when Qrow grabbed one of his hands gently.

 

“...Welcome back, kid.” Qrow whispered, and tears welled in Oscar’s eyes again. He couldn’t bring himself to speak, so Qrow just continued. “You’ve been out for a bit - heck, I was worried you wouldn’t wake up for a while. You’ve been out for 2 days straight.”

 

“...better than last time.” Oscar squeezed Qrow’s hand a bit, and the huntsman chuckled.

 

“But more of a scare, kiddo.” The atmosphere in the air turned tense. “...Why did you do that?”

 

Oscar opened his mouth to reply, but he couldn’t formulate what he wanted to say. Qrow seemed to understand, because he just shook his head and smiled weakly. “It’s fine, kid. You don’t have to tell me right now.” He reached forward and brushed the stray hairs off the freckled boy’s forehead absentmindedly, frowning when he felt as if his forehead was a bit too hot. “I’m going to go get you a cold towel, kid. You might be feeling a bit warm for the next couple of days.”

 

Oscar held back a small whimper when Qrow let go of his hand and left. His body shook as if it was cold, but he was just feeling hot and prickly all over. His eyelids became heavy as he turned his head to the other side, his chest rising and falling a bit too rapidly for his liking.

 

**_...Deep breaths. You’re safe._ **

 

**_It’s okay, Oscar._ **

 

His eyes fluttered shut.

 

**_It’s okay._ **

* * *

 

* * *

 

Oscar woke up to the sound of something being ripped and a cold sensation on his arm. His first instinct was to yank his arm away, but he didn't have the strength to do so. Instead, he just let out a small noise of distress and opened his eyes a tiny bit. Jaune and Qrow were standing over him, Jaune holding a roll of bandages and Qrow applying some sort of cream. They both froze and looked towards Oscar, who was staring at them with wide eyes.

 

“We’re just applying burn cream to your burns!” Jaune said hurriedly, smiling nervously. “It has to settle in before I can start trying to heal you - it’ll go faster that way.” Oscar forced himself to relax again, letting himself slip away while the two worked on his burns.

 

After a while, they finished, and Jaune left the room. Qrow, much like before, sat beside Oscar’s bed and held his hand gently, squeezing back whenever Oscar squeezed his hand.

 

“Heh. I didn’t think you would be needing more bandages, kid.”

 

Oscar smiled weakly, resisting the urge to run his hands over all the bandages on his body and beat himself up for being in this position in the first place. He was such a… useless addition to the team. A couple of hits and he was down for the count? How pathetic was that?

 

“Are you hungry? Can I get you anything?”  
  


Oscar was hungry, actually. But he shook his head. Qrow frowned and let out a small sigh. “...Why did you do that, kid?”

 

The freckled boy, wishing that he could dodge the question, opened his mouth to reply. “You… I wanted to protect you. Remember Haven? When you took that blow for me?” Oscar shuddered just thinking about it. Qrow wouldn’t get up for a while after that. “I… I wanted to protect you like you protected me. And I didn’t want you to die!” His voice got a little higher. “I-I mean, it would’ve been all my fault if you had died, right? But of course, when I want to defend someone, I’m weak and I can’t stand a hit and get back up like you did because I’m stupid and weak and pathetic and-”

 

“Stop.” Qrow sounded mad. Oscar shut up, instinctively squeezing Qrow’s hand even tighter. The huntsman sighed and looked down at the floor, looking tired and dejected.

 

“...Take all that you said. And throw it out the window.” Qrow shook his head, and Oscar’s heart stuttered. “You don’t owe me any favors. It wouldn’t have been your fault if I died - hell, it was my fault for being open in the first place. And I’m a tough cookie.” He chuckled almost bitterly, and a ghost of a smile tugged at the corners of Oscar’s lips. “But in all seriousness. You’re not weak. You’re not pathetic - you’re just learning.”

 

“B-but-”

 

“No buts, kid.” Qrow cut him off immediately, frowning. “I don’t want you even thinking those things because they’re not true. Hey, Oz? Can you do me a solid and make sure Oscar doesn’t think those things.”

 

**_Noted._ **

 

Oscar let out an annoyed sigh, trying not to smile. “Yeah. He says ‘noted.’” Qrow’s expression melted into one a bit happier and more relieved.

 

“Good. Now - I’m going to ask you again: are you hungry?”  
  


Oscar hesitated, his face turning red because Qrow probably saw right through him. He laughed nervously and looked away, taking a small breath. “...Yeah. I am.”

 

Qrow left, came back with some soup and helped Oscar sit up and eat. The freckled boy’s body screamed in protest with every movement, but it was worth it to have something in his stomach. After he finished, he just rested against Qrow, who was humming a familiar tune and running his fingers through Oscar’s hair.

 

 ** _Qrow and I used to listen to that song together,_** Ozpin said almost wistfully, and Oscar smiled to himself. **_We listened to it during peaceful times._**

 

_That’s nice. It has a nice melody to it. Are there any lyrics?_

 

**_...Maybe someday I’ll sing it to you, Oscar._ **

 

Oscar grinned, allowing himself to close his eyes and relax. _Would you mind… singing it to me now?_

 

**_...Not at all._ **

* * *

 

* * *

 

“Shh! Be quiet!”

 

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to drop it!”

 

“Yang come on! We must be quiet! I don’t know how you managed to drop a spoon, but you must go back to the kitchen and get one! Hurry up!”

 

There was the sound of feet shuffling. Oscar tried to turn over in bed, wincing when his legs protested and gave up right after. His eyes flickered over to the door that was opening slowly. In came Ruby and Yang, tip-toeing their way to his nightstand and putting a bowl of something on it with a spoon right next to it. They didn’t notice he was staring at them until the duo got halfway towards the door. Silver eyes locked with hazel and the silver-eyed huntress let out a small yelp of surprise, causing Yang to jump and give a small yelp of her own.

 

Oscar sat up quickly, regretted the motion and curled in on himself, pain shooting up his body and making his brain feel fuzzy. He could barely register that he was swaying in place a little until Yang put a hand on his shoulder to stabilize him.

 

“Hey, Oscar? Are you okay?”  
  


“...peachy…”

 

Ruby frowned and reached forward to brush her fingers against his forehead. “He’s a bit warm - didn’t Uncle Qrow say to cool him down with a cold rag? So that he doesn’t get too hot, right?”  
  
“Yeah. Go do that and I’ll stay with him.” Ruby saluted and zipped out of the room. Yang helped Oscar lay down and smoothed some of his hair back, frowning when a soft whimper escaped his lips. She couldn’t blame him - those burns looked like they hurt.

 

Oscar was so brave for someone his age, Yang thought with a small sigh. Ruby came barreling with a small towel drenched in water, her eyes wide. “Do we have to do it a certain way? Is there, like, a special technique to do it?!”  
  


“Give it to me.” Yang said hurriedly, and Ruby was more than glad to hand it off to her older sister.  And then the blonde just placed it on Oscar’s head - simply, but gently. “There. You know, that wasn’t as **dam** hard as I expected!’

 

Ruby’s nose wrinkled in distaste. “Did you… did you just make a water pun?”

 

“I sure did!” Yang announced proudly. Oscar seemed to get it a couple of seconds later, because he was giggling into the blanket. Ruby rolled her eyes in exasperation, her cheeks turning pink.

 

“Yang - just - ugh. Let’s get going. We should leave Oscar to rest.”  
  
Oscar was fine with that idea. That one sitting-up movement took a lot out of him for some reason. The word ‘pathetic’ started floating into his mind, but he had the mental image of Ozpin slapping the word away. Like - actually.

 

**_Not in my house._ **

 

Oscar suppressed a snort, looking away when Ruby gave him a concerned look. “Did you really think the pun was that funny?”  
  
He nodded, and she rolled her eyes with a smile on her face. “Glad you did, Oscar.”

 

She closed the door behind her, allowing Oscar to close his eyes and let himself relax, the pain seeming like a small buzz in the back of his mind at that point.

 

So, he just let himself fall.

* * *

* * *

 

 

 

When Oscar awoke again, he got some help from Qrow and Jaune with walking. Qrow told an already-tearful Oscar that he was like a baby taking his first steps, which reminded the freckled boy of his dad and effectively caused him to start bawling.

 

It was nice getting out of his room. Although his burns weren’t fully healed and his legs hurt like absolute hell itself, he enjoyed having to go out of his room to greet the others instead of them having to come to him. He had to press a wet rag to his forehead sometimes when he got too hot, which was a minor setback, but he hoped it would get better soon.

 

“You need help, kid?” Qrow asked when Oscar was getting up from the couch to get some hot chocolate.

 

“No, it’s fine. I’m fine.” Oscar replied with a small smile. He managed to make two mugs of hot chocolate (because he needed to stretch out his arms and legs more if he wanted to be able to function properly - he felt like a newborn deer) and stumbled back to the couch, handing Qrow one and keeping the other.

 

Before he knew it, Ruby was curled up against Qrow and Yang was curled up against her. Blake had dropped in from nowhere and curled up against Yang while Weiss fluffed a pillow and sat against Ruby’s legs on the floor. Nora carefully curled up against Oscar, ruffling his hair gently. Ren then cuddled up against her followed by Jaune who just clung to Ren. It was just one big cuddle pile - as always.

 

And Oscar - with his burns, guilt, anxiety and timidness -

 

Never felt more at home than he did now.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which ruby is ... well , its hard to explain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry about the wait school has been kicking my butt and i have been getting 0 sleep sksk  
> this is a very choppy chapter im sorry

Ruby found Oscar sitting on the kitchen counter at 3 in the morning, swinging his legs over the edge and humming to himself. He wasn’t holding a mug of hot chocolate like he usually did (saying that he was usually up at 3 in the morning kind of spooked her), and he wasn’t watching anything or doing anything - it was very weird. Never mind why she was up.

 

“...Oscar?” She asked softly, tilting her head to the side. Now that she was closer, she could see that his posture was a bit too stiff for it to be Oscar - and the eyes that flickered over to meet her silver ones definitely didn’t hold the same bright, but nervous energy to them. “...O-oh. Hi, Professor Ozpin.” She said almost shyly.

 

Ozpin smiled passively at her, his legs stilling. “Hello, Miss Rose. Care to tell me why you’re up so late?”

 

“U-uh… I needed to use the bathroom, but then I noticed the kitchen light on.” She babbled, ignoring the knowing smile from her former professor. “What are you two doing up so late?”

 

His smile faltered slightly. “Oscar… well, to put it lightly, has been having a bit of a difficult time. I said it would be best to take a walk to clear his thoughts, but he just wanted to stay in the, and I quote, ‘safety of the home’. He… wasn’t able to calm down, however, so I took over to help calm him down.” He shrugged. “It helps sometimes.”  
  
Ruby frowned, a small pang of hurt in her chest. “...can I help?”

 

Ozpin shook his head, the hands that here resting on his legs now clasped together. “Not right now, Miss Rose, I’m afraid. I think you should go back to bed.”

 

The silver-eyed female opened her mouth, closed it again, opened it, turned around, then stopped. She turned her head, silver eyes meeting hazel once again. “...What’s the next step, Professor?”

 

Ozpin blinked, his eyes expressing surprise and his face expressing nothing. “...Why do you ask, Miss Rose?”  
  
“We’ve been here for a while… no plan, no way to move forward… and…” She glanced at the bandages that were wrapped around Oscar’s arms and legs. “We already tied a fight. We need to move forward.”

 

Ozpin bit his lower lip, looking apprehensive for the first time. “To be truthful, Miss Rose, I’m to exactly sure what to do next. Qrow tells me that Ironwood wouldn’t take the relic back because of… ‘safety issues’ with his academy and army. However, I’m sure I’ll figure something out. We can’t let the darkness catch up to us, after all.”

 

Against her better judgement, Ruby spoke, a weak smile tugging at the corners of her lips and making Ozpin’s eyebrows raise. “Well… darkness is a harsh term, don’t you think?”

 

“And yet it dominates the things I’ve seen.” Ozpin’s reply came instantly - he didn’t miss a beat. Ruby rubbed her arm, feeling silly. It was weird, but she really wanted Oscar back. Talking to the professor was… odd. It was as if he was trying to express emotion, but he was doing so awkwardly. She let out a soft huff and shrugged her shoulders.

 

“Sorry for asking, Professor. Have a nice night - don’t go to bed too late.” She waved her hand and smiled weakly, but Ozpin shook his head a bitter smile on his face (seeing that bitter smile with Oscar felt so… odd.).

 

“No promises.” He said almost jokingly.

 

Ruby woke up again at around 7 in the morning, her head buzzing and the light filtering in from the shades getting into her eyes. She groaned into her pillow, making sure not to disturb Weiss. She wanted to be productive today… so she would probably get up, get ready, make herself some hot chocolate or something and then go into town to help with anything any civilians needed. Maybe her and the rest of her team could go… maybe Qrow could come with…

 

She walked out of her room after getting dressed, closing the door behind her and letting out a soft yawn. Maybe she would have a piece of toast and treat herself with some butter…

 

Could you imagine how surprised she was when she found Oscar on the kitchen floor, his knees curled into his chest and leaning against the counter, sleeping?

 

To be frank, it scared the absolute hell out of the silver-eyed girl. She suppressed a yelp and frowned, her eyebrows furrowing. The boy had a bed for a reason! What was he doing on the cold ground for? With a soft huff, Ruby crouched down - not too close - in front of Oscar. She wanted to transport him to at least the couch or something, but she didn’t know if she a) even could or b) pick him up without rousing him from sleep.

 

She would probably have to wake him, carry him to the couch or his bed, and soothe him back to sleep somehow; the gods only knew what time he had fallen asleep. “Oscar.” She whispered, poking at the sleeping farm boy gently. “Oscar.”

 

Oscar groaned, turning his face to the side and curling impossibly tighter into himself. “Five more minutes, mom,” He grumbled, and Ruby stopped, sadness erupting in her chest.

 

“Oscar,” She continued slowly, rubbing his shoulder. The half-awake boy seemed to lean into her touch. “I’m going to move you to your bed, okay? I just need you to sit up a bit straighter for me.”

 

“...m’kay.” Oscar allowed himself to be moved by Ruby; the silver-eyed female shifted him then lifted him up, suppressing a laugh when Oscar nuzzled into her arm, probably seeking warmth. She snickered and kicked his door open softly, gently setting the freckled boy onto his bed and pulling the sheets over him.

 

“You can go back to sleep now, Oscar,” She whispered, smoothing his hair back like she had seen Uncle Qrow do sometimes. Hazel eyes blinked blearily at her, half-lidded and almost sad.

 

“What if I don’t want to go back to sleep...”

 

“Why wouldn’t you want to go to sleep?” Ruby tilted her head to the side slightly, unconsciously continuing to run her fingers through his hair.

 

“The nightmares will catch up to me… and Oz won’t be able to do anything about it...” He muttered in reply, grabbing at the blankets pulled around him. Ruby frowned, and before she could think, she spoke.

 

“I’ll stay with you until you fall asleep, Oscar. I promise. And then the nightmares won’t come!” She said happily, ruffling his hair gently. He smiled.

 

“I like the sound of that…” His cheeks grew red.” U-um… if it’s not too much… do you know how to sing? That always helps…”

 

Ruby blushed brightly, her eyes widening. She wasn’t confident in her singing voice, but she really wanted to help Oscar… he deserved to sleep for once. With a soft huff, she nodded. “Yeah. I do. Do you want me to sing you to sleep?” He nodded sheepishly, and Ruby smiled.

 

“Of course.” The silver-eyed female replied, rubbing his shoulder gently. “Granted, I’m not very good,” she laughed nervously. “But I’ll try!”

 

She took Oscar’s hand in her own and squeezed it, taking a deep breath. In, out. Oscar’s eyes slipped shut, and she started.

 

**_Lavender’s blue dilly, dilly,_ **

 

**_Lavender’s green -_ **

 

**_When you are king, dilly, dilly,_ **

 

**_I shall be queen._ **

 

**_Who told you so, dilly, dilly,_ **

 

**_Who told you so?_ **

 

**_‘Twas my heart, dilly, dilly,_ **

 

**_That told me so._ **

 

Ruby stopped briefly to look at the farm boy. His eyes were half-closed, and his chest was rising and falling much slower than before, but his grip on her hand stayed as tight as ever. Assuming that he was still awake, Ruby continued shakily, rubbing his knuckles with her thumb - that’s what Yang did to her sometimes.

 

**_Call up your friends, dilly, dilly_ **

 

**_Send them to work,_ **

 

**_Some to plough, dilly, dilly,_ **

 

**_Some to the fork,_ **

 

**_Some to stack hay, dilly, dilly,_ **

 

**_Some to thresh corn,_ **

 

**_While you and I, dilly, dilly,_ **

 

**_Keep ourselves warm._ **

 

She smiled as Oscar’s grip on her hand went slack, the sound of his soft breathing the only sound in the room.

 

Ruby took this time to let herself relax and think, a feel of protectiveness swelling in her chest. The fact that she could help the person who she saw as a little a little brother made her feel so… giddy. She grinned to herself and rubbed the back of her neck, slowly letting go of Oscar’s hand. She made sure he was all tight and snug under the covers before turning around. She would just grab a piece of toast and go to the town. That would be fine.

 

The damage wasn’t too bad, actually - there weren’t even that many casualties. Ruby helped around here and there, helping to move pieces of debris and talking to civilians and policemen who needed reports on the situation.

 

Ruby had a lot of time to think while she was out - on what to do next, that was. They didn’t exactly know where the Winter maiden was, but they could search for her; Ozpin probably had a radar for that kind of thing, right? It was a small idea, but it could work.

 

It was odd, really. Ruby kept on turning the conversation from early morning over and repeatedly in her mind, frowning and trying to (what a shocker) analyze every single aspect of that conversation. Ozpin seemed as if… he was hiding something. Trying to keep something under the wraps.

 

That really didn’t settle well in Ruby’s stomach.

 

But she wouldn’t let that bother her. The silver-eyed female walked home, a smile on her face and a skip in her step. She had a plan! Well, it wasn’t necessarily a plan, but it was at least an idea - that was better than anything they had right now.

 

Eaten? Check. Taken care of Oscar? Check. Helped with the damage? Check. Help people and policemen? Check.

 

Hotel? Trivago.

 

Ruby was greeted with her team and JNR in the kitchen with Nora and Yang arm wrestling (of course), Weiss and Ren talking with tea and Jaune and Blake talking in the corner with smiles on their faces. The sight made the silver-eyed female grin happily.

 

“Hey, guys! I’m back!’ She shimmied up to Weiss and Ren, clapping her hands together. “The damage wasn’t too bad - just some patches that seem bad but aren’t. Do you know if Oscar is still sleeping? I have to talk to him!”

 

Ren smiled shyly. “He walked out of his room a half an hour ago, actually. Went straight into the basement with his cane without eating. Perhaps you would like to bring him some toast or a waffle?”  
  


“I made extra water for an extra cup of tea.” Weiss offered.

 

And that’s how Ruby ended up walking down the stairs with a cup of hot tea in one hand a plate with buttered toast on it in another. As she walked down the stairs, however, a particular… voice caught her ears. She made it to the bottom of the stairs and saw Oscar standing in the middle of the floor, his back faced towards her. But… he was singing. And he sounded good! Ruby’s eyes widened almost comically as she quietly put the cup and the plate on the counter next to her.

 

**_Seems like all my bridges have been burnt,_ **

 

**_But you say, “that’s exactly how this grace thing works”_ **

 

(Ruby could practically hear him roll his eyes and make a face. He was a sassy child.)

 

**_It’s not the long walk home that will change this heart,_ **

 

**_But the welcome I receive with every start…_ **

 

Ruby probably wasn’t prepared for this. Oscar rubbed his hands, paused, and the continued.

 

**_Darkness is a harsh term - don’t you think?_ **

 

Without thinking, the female blurted out, “And yet it dominates the things I’ve seen.”, remembering Ozpin’s words from the early morning. Did… did Ozpin just quote one of Oscar’s songs?  
  
Speaking of Oscar…

 

The freckled boy stopped and turned around, his hazel eyes wide and panicked. Ruby opened her mouth to apologize, but the small giggle that escaped the boy’s lips stopped her from doing so. To her surprise, he continued, a bright grin on his face. He rubbed the back of his neck and sang the line again: **_“Darkness is a harsh term - don’t you think?”_**

 

And Ruby responded in kind: “And yet, it dominates the things I’ve seen.” The two youngest members of the team giggled amongst themselves for a bit more until Ruby spoke again, her eyes bright.

 

“I guess Ozpin took a page out of your book, huh?”  
  
“Y-yeah, I guess he did…” Oscar laughed nervously and rubbed his arm, his cheeks turning pink. “What brings you down here, Ruby?”  
  
“Oh! Um…” She trailed off, debating whether to bring up her idea right now. “...I heard that you didn’t eat after waking up - which, is a sin, by the way!” She shook her head in distaste. “So, I took it upon myself to make you something! Tea and toast.”

 

“Weiss made the tea, didn’t she?” Oscar said with a teasing smile, walking over to the counter and taking the cup in his hands. Ruby huffed and crossed her arms, leaning against the wall.

 

“Yes, she did, but I made the toast! And I didn’t even get a thank you?”

 

Oscar seemed to stop himself mid-flinch and he laughed nervously. “Sorry - thank you, Ruby.”  
  
She grinned triumphantly and slid down so that she was sitting against the wall. Oscar shuffled over so that he could sit next to her, munching on his piece of toast.

 

“...Your voice sounds very nice,” Ruby said softly, filling the silence that had rung in the air for a bit too long. “If it's not too much… could you sing another song for me?”  
  
Oscar looked at her and blinked in surprise, curling into himself a tiny bit, then sat up straighter. “Of course, I would. It’s the least I can do. If you don’t like the song… then just tell me, okay?”

 

“Noted.”

 

( ** _Can you kneel before the king,_**

 

 ** _And say I’m clean? I’m clean?_** )

 

(Those lyrics really stuck with Ruby.)

 

(Because somewhere behind those hazel eyes showed Ozpin’s fear.)

 

(And Ozpin could not kneel and say he was clean.)


	23. Chapter 23

Oscar, undoubtedly, had been getting hardly any sleep for the past couple of days and that was painfully obvious. There were dark circles under his eyes, he was always yawning, and he looked… fragile. As if someone could touch him and he would just… shatter.

 

Operation: GOTS (Get Oscar To Sleep) was thought of by Qrow (of course) because he knew they needed to do something about the boy. Throughout their time with the farm boy, everyone had kind of learned what he liked and didn’t like - what words would make him skittish and what words would relax him.

 

(During their little ‘operation meeting’, Oscar walked in on them and would have cracked his head on the floor if it weren’t for Ren’s fast reflexes.)

 

Surprisingly, Weiss was the first one to get Oscar to sleep.

 

The farm boy was sitting on the couch and staring into space (he had been doing that a lot more lately), so she just sat next to him and coaxed him gently back ‘down’ so that she could speak to him. “Hey, Oscar,” She spoke softly; out of the corner of her eyes she could see Yang peeking out from behind the wall, her violet eyes blinking in surprise. “Stay with me, yeah?”

 

“I’m here… how can I ‘stay with you’ if I’m not going anywhere?” Oscar muttered, rubbing at his eyes and frowning slightly. Weiss twitched, and luckily, it went unnoticed by Oscar.

 

“Have I ever taught you that lullaby that I really like?” Weiss asked, and when Oscar shook his head slowly, she grinned. Bingo. “Well, get comfortable, because I would like to sing it to you.”

 

“...will it put me to sleep?” Oscar asked, looking hesitant. He leaned against Weiss’ shoulder and she smiled gently.

 

“I don’t think so. It’s just a short song - nothing special. But I think you’ll really like it.” She grimaced a tiny bit, hating to have lied to him (because this was 100% going to put him to sleep), but it was what she needed to do.

 

“...alright. I’m excited to hear it.” The sincerity in Oscar’s voice made warmth spread its way across Weiss’ chest and face, and she coughed into her free had.

 

“Alright - here we go.”

 

**_I was a little girl alone in my little world -_ **

 

**_Who dreamed of a little home for me._ **

 

**_I played pretend between the trees and fed my houseguests bark and leaves and_ **

 

**_Laughed in my pretty bed of green._ **

 

**_I had a dream…_ **

 

**_That I could fly from the highest tree I had a dream…_ **

 

And that was all it took. Oscar was (miraculously) sound asleep on her shoulder. Weiss let out a soft sigh and shifted to the side slightly, giving her enough space to move entirely and lay Oscar down on the couch gently. She grabbed a nearby blanket and draped it over him, made sure his head was elevated and let out a small sigh.

 

“Easy.” She murmured. The white-haired female then turned around, and icy blue eyes met violet ones.

 

“Woah there.” Yang whispered, grinning. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”

 

“Of course, I did.” Weiss whispered back with a smirk, walking out of the living room to have the conversation somewhere else. “He was tired - and music always makes people sleepy.”  
  
Much to everyone’s dismay, Oscar woke up literally and hour and a half later, insisting he was fine and didn’t need any more sleep. His constant yawns spoke otherwise.

 

Jaune stepped up to the job this time without a straight plan or an idea on what to do, but he was going to get this boy to sleep if it was the last thing he did. “Hey, Oscar!” He greeted happily, walking up to the freckled boy who was standing in the kitchen making hot chocolate. Oscar kind of recoiled a bit, grabbing onto his left arm.

 

“...You’re not going to force me to go to sleep, are you?” He asked cautiously, and Jaune laughed nervously.

 

“Uh… no! Of course not. I just wanted to tell you another story from Beacon. It’s one about me this time, believe it or not. I can’t believe it didn’t tell you this - but it’s action-packed and I think you’ll like it!” The blond rambled on, stopping when Oscar gave a small giggle.

 

“Of course. Go ahead.”

 

Now, Jaune’s original plan was to head to the couch and sit down with him and tell him the story of Cardin, but this was fine. He was a strategist - he could figure this out. He let out a soft huff and began to speak.

 

“Well, you know, I faked transcripts to go to Beacon. Ozpin knew that and let me go, to recap. When I told Pyrrha that, I soon found out that a bad person named Cardin heard and he blackmailed me. Can you ask Ozpin if he remembers Cardin?” Jaune paused when Oscar snorted and gave Jaune a tired smile - a smile that didn’t belong on the face of a 14-year-old.

 

“He says he tries every day of his life not to remember Cardin.” He replied, and Jaune laughed.

 

“Well, then. I would continue, but I don’t want you just… standing there listening to me. Why don’t we sit at the table? That seems a bit more comfortable?”

 

Oscar fell right into it - he nodded and took his cup of hot chocolate and sat at the table, watching as Jaune slid into the chair right next to him. “Alright, I’ll continue. Now, Cardin wasn’t the nicest of people, to say the least…”

 

The Cardin Story™ wasn’t a happy story in the least. It made Jaune’s skin crawl, but at least it was doing something; Oscar’s eyes drooped farther and farther, and his shoulders slumped more and more.

 

Jaune’s strategy #420 - ‘bedtime stories’ always got sleepy kids to go to sleep. Jaune’s story was lulling Oscar to sleep. Right before Jaune ran out of material, he noticed that Oscar’s head was in his arms, his eyes closed and his chest rising and falling softly. Thank the gods, he thought, rubbing the back of his neck.

 

This part Jaune was a master at - picking sleeping children up without startling them out of sleep. The blond picked Oscar up effortlessly and took him to his room instead of placing him on the couch, confident that the bed would provide a better support so that Oscar would sleep more. When he closed the door behind him, everyone was crowded around him (what was this - a comic book?).

 

“Did you do it?” Nora whispered, and Jaune nodded.

 

“Out. Hopefully.” He said with a sheepish smile, and he was met with a bunch of high-fives.

 

Everyone had to find a pillow to groan into when Oscar walked out of his room not even 45 minutes later, a scowl on his face and his arms crossed because he had been bamboozled not once, but twice.

 

Nora and Ren (they thought if they tried to ‘attack him’ together it would work better). tried to ask him why he wouldn’t sleep, but he changed the subject immediately and had a conversation with them about colored pencils.

 

(‘The different shades of orange and green on colored pencils are really pretty.’)

 

(‘Yes, I agree, but there is more of a pressing matter at hand-’)

 

(‘No, Ren, let him finish.’)

 

(Nora thought letting him talk would make him drowsy and put himself to sleep, but he just droned on and on about colored pencils and didn’t stop. Nora eventually got tired and fell asleep and Ren excused himself, saying that he had to go fold some laundry.)

 

(Nora woke up with a blanket around her shoulders and a warm compress in front of her with a note that said ‘if your back hurts, use this’ with a smiley face on it.)

 

(Bless his soul.)

 

Yang and Blake (they were in this together, mind you) tried to read to him (and it was a good story!) to put him to sleep, but halfway through the first page, Oscar blinked owlishly and stared right at Yang. “The word ‘nun’ is just the letter ‘n’ doing a cartwheel.”

 

Yang - honestly - didn’t know what to do with that information. She coughed into her hand and reached for the glass of water that was right next to her, looking to Blake for support. Blake laughed nervously and began to read the next sentence, but Oscar cut her off again.

 

“Who put the alphabet in alphabetical order?” He asked, and Yang began to choke on her water. Blake rushed to help Yang, who was laughing and coughing at the same time, and in that time frame, they didn’t notice that Oscar had slipped out and away.

 

Oscar was smart - that was for sure. He was able to evade everyone’s attempts to get him to sleep - and by the next day, he probably was running on those 2 hours and fifteen minutes he slept the day before. This was beginning to be an issue - if there was another attack, would he even be able to handle it? That was the big question that was on everyone’s mind.

 

The only two people who hadn’t tried putting Oscar to sleep were Ruby and Qrow; Ruby made the point that if they approached him together, then he would get suspicious.

 

(This was starting to turn into a Mission: Impossible kind of thing.)  
  


Ruby was the first one who went up. Oscar was curled up against the living room window, reading. It would have been perfectly normal and casual, but his eyelids were fluttering, and his head was doing that thing where it dipped back then it would spring right back up.

 

“Hey, Oscar! Whatcha reading?” Ruby asked cheerfully, settling down right next to the farm boy. His hazel eyes flickered over towards her before going back to the book’s pages. “Gris.” He replied in a monotone voice.

 

“...Oh. Well, what’s it about?” Ruby peeked over his shoulder slightly to read the book, and Oscar gave her a small smile.

 

  
“It’s about the five stages of grief - or, at least, I think. It doesn’t really make it clear. A girl named Gris loses her voice and falls into this unknown world where everything is grey. She has to bring the colors back in order to get her voice back, and her dress helps her perform certain tasks that can help her get through to the next area. She keeps on encountering this… statue that’s weird. I’m right in the middle of the book - she just unlocked blue.” When Oscar realized he was going on and on, he stopped, his cheeks turning pink. “S-sorry. I just really like the book.” Then his eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Wait… are you here to-”

 

“To put you to sleep? Nah.” Ruby cut him off, finishing the sentence for him. She shrugged and looked away, wringing her hands together. “Blake just ran out of books that were interesting. I mean - seriously! All she reads are romance novels - the only remotely interesting one she had was a book about… I think a post-apocalyptic world where this guy wakes up from a 100-year nap and has to go save everyone from this giant evil pig thing. It was weird, but good.” Ruby smiled, her eyes drifting over to the words on the pages. “I’m just looking for new material. Where did you get that book?”  
  


Oscar looked surprised for a second. He opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. “U-um I took a handful of books from the farm before I left - ones that I had read before and ones I wanted to read. This is one of the two books I haven’t read.’ He smiled sheepishly, playing with the corner of the page he was on. “I have books, if you want some. Although, I never really took you for a reader.”

 

Ruby wasn’t a reader. That was the thing. The only reason why she had finished the book Blake gave her was because she was promised a big box of cookies and chocolates after she finished it - but she had to give a summary of the book to Blake and she wasn’t risking it. “Y-yeah, I like some books. Some are like, weird, but others are good! I’m on a quest to find good books!”

 

“...Ah. I see.” Oscar smiled tiredly at her and her heart squeezed painfully. “You could read Gris when I’m done with it. I’ll be done some time tonight, I think - I’ll drop it off by your room if that’s okay.”

 

“Of course,” Ruby said through gritted teeth, plastering a smile on her face. She let out a soft sigh and curled her knees to her chest, resting her arms on her knees and her head on her arms. How could she come about this?  
  
“...Look. I just want to say that we’re concerned about you, Oscar. Someone as young as you should be getting 8 to 10 hours of sleep! And on a bad day, 6-8 hours of sleep. You’re getting, like, zero!” Ruby’s cheeks flared red as she tried to convey that he needed to go to sleep right this instant. “I’m not trying to force you to go to sleep right now, Oscar. I’m just saying - self-care, right? Try to get some sleep tonight. And if you can’t, I’m sure that we’ll be able to figure something out! Don’t be discouraged, okay?” She reached over and ruffled Oscar’s hair; Oscar was unresponsive. She curled her legs tighter into her chest and frowned. “When I can’t sleep, I count all the good things I have. I usually don’t even make it to ten.” She laughed sheepishly, sitting up a bit straighter. She couldn’t exactly sit still for a long period of time. “I’m not here to do some crazy method to get you to go to sleep - I’m not going to sing to you, or talk soothingly to you, or meditate. I’m just telling you - you need to take care of yourself. And if not for you, for all of us. We care about you.” She patted his knee and stood up, ignoring the big puppy dog eyes that looked up at her. “I’m going to go get some milk. If there’s anything you need, say it now.”

 

Silence.

 

“Alright. Stay safe, Oscar.” She smiled at him, and even though he looked as if his world just got ripped out from under him, Oscar smiled shakily back.

 

“...You too.”

 

That night, Qrow was dozing off when he heard that knock on his door. He blinked, groaned, rolled out of bed and opened his door.

 

Oscar was looking up at Qrow with tears in his eyes, his shoulders shaking and his breath hitching every other breath. “I can’t sleep....” The boy whimpered, wiping at his eyes. Qrow’s heart squeezed painfully as he wrapped and arm around Oscar, leading him inside and closing the door behind him.

 

“I know, kid. I know.” Qrow whispered, and Oscar shakily hugged him, quietly sobbing into his shirt. “It’s going to be okay.”  
  
“No, it’s not,” Oscar replied tearfully. “The nightmares won’t go away. The flashbacks just keep coming and coming. What if I just don’t sleep? Will they go away then?” Oscar’s speech became more frantic as he spoke, causing Qrow to kneel in front of him and put his hands gently on the boy’s shoulders. That was the reason he hadn’t been sleeping, wasn’t it? Qrow pressed his lips together.

 

“No. You can’t go forever without sleeping, Oscar.” Qrow replied, wiping a tear that had rolled Oscar’s cheek. “How about you sleep with me tonight? See how that works? And if something bad comes to you during the night, we’ll figure something out, okay?”  
  
A small sniffle. “...Okay. We’ll try.”

 

Once they got situated in bed, Oscar spoke up again, practically incoherent. “...Thanks dad.” He mumbled, and Qrow reached out and squeezed his hand gently.

 

“...You’re welcome, son.”

 

When Yang walked into Qrow’s room the next morning, she ran out, closed the door behind her, and whispered-yelled that Oscar was, indeed, asleep in Qrow’s room.

 

(Oscar slept the entire day. Literally - the entire day.)

 

(When he woke up, he didn’t even take a step out of the room before apologies were spilling over and choking him.)  
  
(He was immediately shut up by everyone who was frantically telling him that ‘it was okay’.)  
  
(Because it was okay.)

 

(He would be okay.)


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which there is ice skating for a bit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is really short and im really sorry  
> but i figured i had to supply you guys with /something/ after making ya'll wait for so long  
> speaking of which  
> im sorry for the long wait - things have popped up and ive been feeling really uninspired , but i promise you ill try to get back into the grove of things ^  
> for now , enjoy your less than 700 word, unedited thing that i put together for your viewing pleasure

“This really isn’t a good idea.” Oscar said with a small grimace, clutching onto Weiss like his life depended on it when he slipped ever so slightly. The ex-heiress rolled her eyes playfully and shook her head, giving his arm a small pat.

 

“Of course it is - you just have to make sure you don’t fall.”

 

Oscar huffed in reply. “Because that’s easy.”

 

“It actually is,” Weiss said in a matter-of-fact tone. “You just have to stay calm.”

 

“Oh, come on, Weiss.” Oscar’s grip on her tightened when he almost slipped again, his heart skipping a beat. “I’m really never calm.” 

 

“You may be right…” Weiss trailed off, but then looked at him with a grin. “But this helps with that. Do you want to try breathing again?” 

 

“...no. It’s fine. I want to chase Jaune across the ice because he stole the last cookie - and I have to know how to ice skate in order to do that.” Oscar smiled sheepishly. “I want to do this fast.”

 

“Suit yourself.” Weiss shrugged. “Just follow my lead.”

 

Qrow, thinking that everyone needed a break, had gotten ice skates for everyone and had just placed them in front of the door. The shrieks of happiness and hugs that followed were adorable, but Oscar quickly found out that he was the only one who didn’t know how to ice skate (which was kind of embarrassing.). So, he asked Weiss for help, and they ended up at a frozen lake for lessons. 

 

(Oscar was  _ really  _ afraid the ice was going to break at first, but with a couple of reassurances from Weiss he allowed himself to go onto the ice.)

 

“Make sure to keep your back straight and center of gravity low.” Weiss spoke like she was a professional, her eyes flickering from Oscar to the ice. “You have to keep breathing and keep a level head, too - if you stumble, you absolutely can’t panic.” She smiled at him. “We’ll get there. I promise.” Oscar smiled shyly and loosened his grip on Weiss, apologizing sheepishly. 

 

The next couple of hours were just Oscar learning how to push himself forward without any help. He fell - a lot - but when he finally managed to do it, Weiss looked so proud that he thought she was going to cry.   
  


(Which, is saying a lot, because they didn’t call her ‘Ice Queen’ for nothing.)

 

The following day, Oscar managed to spin in a small circle. Yang and Blake had come along to watch, resorting to snuggling with one another under a tree while Weiss helped Oscar with a couple of more things he needed to know about ice skating. This time, he dressed warmer because he got a rude awakening with all the coldness the ice was radiating. 

 

Soon enough, he was gliding across the ice, keeping up with Weiss. She seemed a bit surprised that he picked up ice skating that quickly, but then again, he seemed to be a bright boy. “Do you think you’re ready to chase Jaune across the ice?” Weiss asked once they had finished their lesson. Oscar laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck, shrugging.

 

“I’m not sure. I still have doubts.” He replied, and Weiss shook her head.

 

“Don’t. You’re a natural - at least, what I’ve seen of you. You’ll be fine. Tomorrow we’ll get everyone on the ice - we’ll have a lot of fun. I promise.” 

 

When the freckled boy grinned back at her, the happiest he had been in a while, Weiss couldn’t help but grin back.

 

The following day, Weiss dragged everyone out to the frozen lake, hurrying everyone so that they could get on with the skating.

 

Just as promised, Oscar chased Jaune across the river, laughing at the blond’s screams. When Oscar caught up, he grabbed onto Jaune’s coat and sent them both tumbling onto the ice and sliding. Ren and Nora hurriedly skated over to them when they just laid on the ice, unmoving, but it turned out that they were just laying on the ice, laughing so hard that they couldn’t breathe. 

 

They skated for a while - snow started falling, the wind blew harshly at some points, and the moment Nora almost fell through the ice was the red flag that they needed to leave.

 

Qrow seemed a bit discouraged that they couldn’t use the ice skates anymore, but with several reassurances from mainly Ruby and Oscar, they decided that they could find a newer, safer place to ice skate. 

 

“Better safe than sorry,” Oscar had supplied quietly, and Qrow had just wrapped an arm around him and ruffled his hair with a small smile.

 

Things were getting a lot better.  


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which there is a celebration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a longer chapter of pure fluff , as promised ;))
> 
> and a little edit that i forgot to put bc i was on a time limit to put this chapter up ; i promise that i read all your comments ! im sorry , im not going to reply to most anymore , but i just want ya'll to know that i see every single one of them and i amm so grateful for you support and love and all of you can have all my uwus !

_Fireworks display - a celebration of strength._

_Tonight from 6-12._

_Enjoy a night of food, games, and fireworks the celebrate the comeback of the city._

 

Qrow blinked twice as he read the paper, not stopping the small smile that tugged at the corner of his lips. That was quick - it was as if Cinder’s attack never really happened. The city looked as if it didn’t happen.

 

Maybe they would attend - they were sent an official invite to their house after all. It would be rude not to accept the invitation. Qrow wasn’t sure whether the kids wanted to go, though. He should probably ask.

 

“Kids! Come here I have a question.” Qrow called, fanning his face with the piece of paper. As always, Ruby came barreling in, a grin on her face. The rest trickled in slowly after her, staring at the paper with questioning gazes. Qrow explained the situation, and everyone jumped on the opportunity to go.

 

“Are we going to go in our regular outfits?” Nora questioned with a small huff, which left them in the predicament of ‘do we even have fancy clothes?’

 

Hoping for a miracle, they scooted down the nearest clothes store and found that it was still open (“Wouldn’t all the stores be closed because of the festival?” “Shit you’re right.”). It was hard to find something for everyone, but the gods must’ve been looking out for them, because they found everything in the nick of time.

 

“I’m so excited!” Ruby exclaimed when they got home, bouncing up on down in place. “I’m going to look great and get flowers in my hair and play games and win prizes and just have a good time for once!”

 

“Are you implying you don’t have fun with us?” Weiss asked with a small huff, and Ruby just shrugged in reply.

 

“No. But this house was getting boring anyway.”

 

“Fair.”

 

Qrow smiled to himself as the kids went to go get dressed; he would have fun tonight too. He would put away the flask and just drink water and orange juice. Maybe a tropical drink. Play a couple of games. Watch the fireworks with the kids he saw as… well, kids.

 

“Qrow? How long is this thing?” Oscar approached shyly, holding the small shopping bag in his hands. Qrow ruffled the boy’s hair lightly.

 

“About 6 hours.” When Oscar’s face scrunched up, Qrow was quick to add on. “But we can leave earlier if you want - they’re big kids. They can look after themselves if they want to stay longer. If you want, we can leave earlier and just drink hot chocolate and talk.”

 

“No, no, it’s fine - I was just curious.” Oscar smiled sheepishly. “It’s fine. I’m going to go get changed and then we’ll head out?”

 

“We’ll wait for you. Go on.” Qrow said, and the freckled boy gave a small wave and ran off, leaving Qrow, smiling to himself.

 

Yeah. He was going to have a lot of fun tonight.

* * *

* * *

 

 

It started getting dark right around 6 - the perfect time to start the celebration. Lights were already shining, and booths were already set up for entertainment. Karaoke started in about an hour, and the fireworks started at 11. Qrow decided that maybe he would stay a little close to Oscar, just in case anything bad happened-

 

And oh - the farm boy was gone. Nowhere to be found. Qrow looked around until he spotted a familiar patch of brown hair (it stuck up everywhere, it was shorter than everyone else-). He very quickly found out that Ren and Oscar were throwing darts at balloons in a booth, laughing.

 

Okay. Okay - that was fine. He was fine.

 

He should probably go get himself a drink in the meantime.

 

So, Qrow went over to the bar that was placed in the middle of the square and leaned on it. “Hey, uh… can I have a virgin piña colada?” The bartender gave him a weird look but proceeded to begin to make it.

 

“You look of age - why just a virgin?” The bartender slid over the drink, and Qrow paid.

 

“Eh - figured I wouldn’t drink tonight.” He looked over at Ruby and Yang, who were playing tug-of-war with a giant stuffed cat, causing a scene. The bartender chuckled a little.

 

“Kids?” He asked, and Qrow shrugged.

 

“Sure. Kids. Thanks for the drink.” In a moment of pure panic, Qrow just… did finger guns towards the bartender and walked off, trying to find something to do. It was in times like these where he felt… out of place. And awkward. He at least needed to find someone to talk to…

 

Oz…

 

He shook his head and huffed at himself, deciding to go over to a game booth, deciding to ignore the announcement about the karaoke starting half an hour early. Surprisingly, he was able to win a small, plush teddy bear that was soft and fuzzy. He had no use for this…

 

He could give it to Oscar.

 

Qrow chuckled a little to himself and turned to find the freckled boy, but it appeared Weiss was dragging him over to the karaoke stage, patting his cheek lightly with a small smile. Oscar looked distressed, but whatever Weiss was saying seemed to calm him down a bit. Oscar said something and Weiss shook her head in response. The boy huffed and then smiled shyly, and Weiss just patted his cheek again.

 

Then, Oscar jogged up to a person in a sparkly suit and began to talk to them. The person in the suit nodded and gave Oscar a microphone. His hazel eyes flickered over to Weiss, and she gave him a pair of thumbs up. Those hazel eyes lit up and Weiss hurriedly went in the other direction.

 

Now, Qrow was sometimes a huge idiot, but he knew _exactly_ what was going on. So, he thanked the game administrator and found a nice place to sit right in front of the stage. Soon enough, Ruby barreled into him and sat right next to him, poking at the small bear on his lap.

 

“Aww! It’s so cute!” She squealed. ‘And fuzzy! Did you win this?”

 

Qrow chuckled. “What do you think?”  
  
“You’re so cool, Uncle Qrow.” Ruby sighed wistfully. “I mean - I couldn’t even win anything without Yang’s help! And the only reason why she got the stuffed kitty was because it reminded her of Blake.” She giggled. “She’s so obvious.”

 

“I’ll tell you what, kiddo,” Qrow ruffled his niece’s hair, ignoring her squeals of protest. “I’ll help you get a stuffed animal after this, okay?”

 

“Then… who are you giving that to?” She pointed to the bear, and Qrow cradled it to his chest in a teasing matter.

 

“Me.”

 

“Pffft! Okay, Uncle Qrow.” Ruby rolled her eyes, trying to act annoyed, but the smile on her face said otherwise.

 

“We’re here!” Nora announced, skipping forward while pulling Ren behind her. Jaune jogged up, rubbing the back of his neck and panting.

 

“Yeah. She ran all the way because she didn’t want to be late.” Jaune said with a huff.

 

“And for good reason.” Weiss’ commanding voice followed Jaune’s. She walked up with Yang and Blake, the former holding a cat and the latter holding the other’s hand. “It’s about to start.”

 

The group of kids and the adult got situated, looking up at the stage in anticipation. What felt like a year and a half passed, and the announcer finally got up on stage.

 

“Welcome and thank you for coming to our celebration of strength!” The announcer boomed, and everyone who was at the celebration began cheering. “This is to honor our fast recovery from the attack - something many people thought not possible. Not only would we like to thank all of you for your cooperation, we would also like to thank all the huntsmen and huntresses that assisted in defending the people from this attack.” If possible, the people began to cheer even louder, and Qrow didn’t even have to look around to see the big smiles on his kids’ faces.

 

(He had one too.)

 

“To start off our karaoke night, I would like to welcome one of the huntsmen that defended the people from the attack - Oscar Pine! Please - give him a warm welcome!”

 

Cheers and claps and whistles boomed, and Oscar had never looked so small walking out onto that stage. He blinked twice in surprise and seemed to hold the microphone a bit tighter, his eyes flickering from the crowd to the microphone.

 

“You can do it, Oscar!” Yang yelled, cupping her hands over her mouth, and the boy jumped in surprise.

 

“You’re amazing! You got this!” Blake added on, and soon enough, the entire group was shouting encouraging things to the farm boy. Qrow could practically see the warmth that had blossomed in Oscar’s chest. When the boy looked over to Qrow, he simply gave him a thumbs up, and Oscar grinned brightly. So, the music started, and he began.

 

_Wide eyed… with a heart made full of fright._

 

_Your eyes follow like traces in the night._

 

_And the tightrope… that you wander every time._

 

_You have been weighed, you have been found wanting._

 

_Been wandering for days,_

 

_How you felt me slip your mind._

 

_Leave behind your wanton ways -_

 

_I want to love to learn in kind._

 

He laughed a little and rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks turning pink.

 

_‘Cause you were all I ever longed for!_

 

There was a small music break, and the audience started clapping along with the beat of the music.

 

_Sheltered,_

 

_You better keep the wolf back from the door._

 

_He wanderers ever closer every night time._

 

_And how he waits - baying for blood;_

 

_I promised you everything would be fine._

 

He repeated the chorus, grinning down at the friends who were cheering for him.

 

(Qrow could not even begin to describe the swell of pride and happiness that burst in his chest looking at that kid.)

 

_Hold my gaze, love,_

 

_You know I want to let it go -_

 

_And we will stare down at the wonder of it all and_

 

_I ~!_

 

_Will hold you in it and_

 

_I ~!_

 

_Will hold you in it!_

 

The music slowed down a little bit, and he smiled sheepishly.

 

_Been wandering for days -_

 

_How you felt me slip your mind._

 

_Leave behind you wanton ways -_

 

_I wanna look you in the eye._

 

His hazel eyes flickered down to meet Qrow’s red one, and Oscar grinned.

 

_‘Cause you were all I ever longed for!_

 

The music picked up again, and everyone began to cheer.

 

_Been wandering for days -_

 

_How you felt me slip your mind._

 

_Leave behind your wanton ways -_

 

_I want to learn to love in kind._

 

_‘Cause you were all I ever longed for!_

 

Oscar finished with a bow, and cheers erupted from all sides of the festival. Oscar laughed and ran a rather shaky hand over his face, practically glowing. They all met him on the side of the stage when he came off, and he was greeted with hugs and exclamations.

 

“That was so good, Oscar!” Nora exclaimed, managing to get to the farm boy first. “I’m so glad that you finally decided to sing in front of everyone.”

 

“Yeah - I didn’t know you could sing.” Jaune said with a small huff, and Nora and Oscar just laughed in response. The kids were crowding around Oscar, showering him with so many questions that Qrow couldn’t get to him.

 

And the next thing he knew, he was being dragged to sit in front of the stage again to watch a duet between Weiss and Oscar after another person went. It was apparently called ‘A Lovely Night’, and it was apparent that Oscar could act _and_ dance as well. Weiss could also do all three of those things, and even though Qrow was vibrating with impatience to give Oscar the teddy bear he had won, it was remarkable to watch the two perform together.

 

And after that, Qrow just couldn’t get to Oscar. Whenever he tried to give the bear to the boy, he was always either dragged away or occupied. It seemed like hours when Qrow finally got to him. When Qrow thought he had him, he hid the bear behind his back and smiled almost nervously. “Hey, kid. I didn’t get to congratulate you on your performances. If you hadn’t met us, I’m pretty sure that you would have been a famous performer.” Oscar laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks turning pink.

 

“T-thanks, Qrow. I really appreciate it.” But Oscar, as observant as ever, raised an eyebrow. “What’s behind your back, though?”

 

“Well, I thought I would-”

 

“Oscar!” A call of his name cut through the air, and they both turned to find Nora running up towards them. “There’s this really cool game I found that I thought you would like - it’s super cool! Come, come on-” She grabbed onto his hand, and even though he tried to yank it away, he was no match for Nora’s strength.

 

“W-wait, Nora, I was-”

 

“No time for that! Hurry before they close it! The fireworks are starting soon!” She exclaimed. Oscar bit his lower lip and looked back at Qrow, looking extremely guilty. ‘I’m sorry,’ he mouthed, and Qrow waved him off.

 

(Maybe he would keep the bear for himself…)

 

He walked around a bit more, deciding to play a couple of more games, but to his luck (what luck?), he didn’t win anything else. When he sat down to look at everyone, laughing and having fun, a small pang on longing hit his chest, and he let out a small sigh.

 

And then everyone began to crowd around the middle, waiting for the fireworks. Qrow stood on hip tiptoes, looking for his kids, but a small tug on his sleeve made him look down. A sheepish looking Oscar was looking up at him, his cheeks pink.

 

“S-sorry about that earlier, Qrow. Could you continue what you were saying?” He asked quietly, and even thought Qrow could barely hear him over the roar of the people, he chuckled in response.

 

“I just… you’re a good kid, Oscar. And I thought this would really help you, so…” He held the teddy bear out awkwardly, accidentally pushing Oscar back a bit. “Here. Take it.”

 

Oscar’s eyes lit up a little and he reached out tentatively to touch it, giggling when he felt how fuzzy it was. “It’s perfect. Thank you so much, Qrow.” He said with a bright gin. At that moment, the first firework went off, causing the two to jump out of their skin. People ‘oohed’ and ‘aahed’ at the fireworks, and Qrow was even enjoying it himself, but he noticed that Oscar was both jumping up and down and straining his neck to see what was happening with the fireworks.

 

“Hold on, kiddo,” Qrow said, and without warning, he scooped Oscar up and allowed his to climb on top of his shoulders (he still had it!). At first, the freckled boy yelped and clung onto his head like his life depended on it, but as time passed and the fireworks went on, he became more relaxed and brighter.

 

“They’re so pretty…” Oscar murmured wistfully, and Qrow hummed in agreement.

 

The fireworks were magical - and he wished, in some ways, that this moment could last forever.

 

Of course, all good things must come to an end, and about 15 minutes later, the fireworks stopped with a small crackle and pop. There was still an hour to the festival, however, and Qrow was about to get Oscar of his shoulders, but that’s when he realized… Oscar had fallen asleep on his shoulders. The boy’s arms rested on his head, and his face was cushioned in them, He gripped the arm of the teddy bear in one hand and the other fell limp.

 

With a little help from Yang and Ren, the three managed to get Oscar from his shoulders and safely in his arms.

 

“...I’m going to go home and put him to bed. I don’t he’d appreciate all the loud noise while he’s sleeping.” Qrow said quickly, and Yang laughed.

 

“Okay, ‘dad’. You go do that.” She said with a small wink, putting air quotes around ‘dad’.

 

And Qrow stormed away, a blushing mess.

 

* * *

* * *

 

When he got home, he helped a half-awake Oscar into pajamas and into bed, smiling when the boy clutched the teddy bear to his chest. It was a sight that made Qrow’s chest swell with warmness. If the bear made him feel safer, then that one stroke of luck (and 20 lien) was worth it in the long run.

 

(And would you look at that - Oscar didn’t wake up, shaking and sobbing from a nightmare that night.)

 

(Funny how things work, huh?)


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which there is growth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM ?? SO ?? SORRY ??  
> this took a While. i went from motivated , to hit in the face with Multiple Tests , to unmotivated and no time , to just unmotivated. but im starting to come back - slowly , but surely ! and im sorry to keep asking this of you guys , but if you could , please leave any ideas you have or anything you want to see in the comments - anything would really help out !!
> 
> if there are any mistakes , please tell me ^
> 
> the song referenced at the end of the chapter is ‘ crystals ‘ by of monsters and men ^
> 
> thanks for sticking with me <3

Oscar wasn’t good with words - he never had been. Tripping over syllables, stuttering, talking so fast that people couldn’t understand him, choking and panicking - he could never be able to formulate the words to describe how he was feeling, or how he was doing -

 

But thank the gods that he was basically see-through - and with people who knew him better than he knew himself, for some reason.

 

Qrow knew him - it seemed to be an adult instinct or something like that. Whenever Oscar seemed to be a little upset - a little off in any way - Qrow would immediately make him a mug of hot chocolate and sit next to him on that small couch of theirs, talking about random subjects that were… normal. No wizards, magic, fighting or grimm - mostly talking about farming and flowers and colors and other things that brought Oscar’s comfort. More often than not, though, Qrow would get Oscar to open up and talk about what he was really thinking about (Qrow would help with the wording sometimes and filling in the blanks, of course.). It was nice - to talk about how he was really feeling and have his feelings valued and not… shoved away to the side like he expected them to.

 

Qrow knew him.

 

Ruby knew him. She would always try and distract him from whatever was bothering him - even if that distraction was for a couple of minutes. Eating chocolate chip cookies and milk, going for a walk to see the trees and the scenery, watching an exciting movie - Ruby seemed to have an activity for all sorts of distractions. And if Oscar really wasn’t feeling it, she would smile reassuringly and give him a hug, giving him an opportunity to talk to her if he needed. It was his choice in the end, of course. If he did decide to talk to her for a bit, he would stutter and stumble, but that was okay. She was patient. She knew he wasn’t good with words - and that was okay. She understood. And if he decided not to, that was okay too. She would simply pat him on the head and lead him away from loud noises and they would sit comfortably next to one another, only talking when needed.

 

Ruby knew him.

 

Weiss knew him. She knew that singing helped him… unwind and get his emotions out. Oscar would be lead to the most private room they could find - it would sometimes even be the bathroom - and she would let him sing. He would be nervous at first, of course - stumbling and stuttering and choking on the lyrics because he couldn’t get them out at first, but that was okay. Weiss understood - probably more than anyone. She waited until he was calm - until he figured it out himself. She would help along the way, of course - giving him small hints and leading him in the right direction. In the end, it paid off. He would sing - anything he wanted to. A sad song with getting emotional, an angry song with shouting and raising voices, a happy song with giggles in the middle - anything was fine. As long as he was able to properly get his emotions out in a healthy way. And Weiss was with him every step of the way. Because she understood.

 

Weiss knew him.

 

Blake knew him. She had… the biggest collection of books Oscar had ever seen. He was limited to a couple of books back at his farm - so all the new books that Blake had were so… new and exciting to him. When he was nervous and jittery, Blake would sit with him and read a book with him. She would make him read it out loud, and Oscar would get frustrated. At first, his voice would shake and he’d stumble, trip, stutter over words and phrases that he couldn’t pronounce correctly. But whenever he couldn’t, Blake would encourage him - tell him that it was okay and that he would get there. He believed her wholeheartedly. So, Oscar would try again. Reading in his mind was so much different than reading out loud - out loud, he was able to create this world around him and Blake, with different characters with different voices and places so far fetched that Oscar would giggle at the thought of it. But he loved reading - and Blake’s ‘exercise’, so to speak, helped tremendously (he learned a bunch of new words when she read with him.).

 

Blake knew him.

 

Yang knew him. Her ways of getting her emotions out were… more unconventional and a little foreign to Oscar, but it helped nonetheless. She had a punching bag set up in her shared room with Blake, for whatever reason. Whenever Oscar was angry or frustrated, she would take him to her room, give him gloves and tell him to go ham on the punching bag - but he had to say something he was feeling every time he punched the bag. At first, this would frustrate Oscar even more. He couldn’t… just make up words for how he was feeling at the drop of a hat. He would stutter and stop, trying to find the right word for what he was feeling at that exact moment, hit his head on the punching bag when he couldn’t, and take a deep breath and start over. Yang would watch with a sad smile on her face, stopping herself from intervening at any moment because Oscar needed to do this himself. The best learning comes from experience - and he had to figure it out himself. And he would.

 

Yang knew him.

 

Jaune knew him. He knew when Oscar was feeling nervous or scared or upset - because whenever Oscar was any of those things, Jaune would hand him a cup of water and start talking about happy things - something good in the news, a happy scene from a movie, the happy lyrics to a new song that just got released, whatever Nora was doing at the moment - he would even take a page out of Yang’s book and make little puns and jokes to make the farm boy laugh. And when Oscar would laugh, Jaune’s eyes would light up and he kept going, walking around the house with Oscar, telling stories and jokes and little things that helped - anything helped, really. And when it was Oscar’s turn to reply, he’d stutter and stumble, thrown off by how the conversation was thrown off with himself suddenly talking, but Jaune understood. He was patient. He waited until Oscar could formulate a reply and casually toss the conversation back and forth slowly, waiting until Oscar was comfortable enough with talking.

 

Jaune knew him.

 

Nora knew him. She was probably the most energetic person in the group, just barely beating out Ruby. But when Oscar was feeling off and upset, she reeled it in a _lot_. She ruffled his hair and walked with him in case he needed anything, rambling about whatever came first to her mind. Whether it was fruit, colors, trees, her friends - she would ramble on and on, happy to talk softly and continuously until Oscar was comfortable and feeling better. He had reactions to her stories and rambles - he would giggle softly, gasp when needed - but he would never talk. When Nora was finished with her rambles, she would gently ask if Oscar had any stories to tell her. And of course, Oscar would stop and stumble, getting frustrated with himself because he couldn’t even tell a single story without having himself stutter and stumble. But Nora would reassure him, tell him it’s okay, and wait patiently for him to continue. She had all the time in the world for him, she would say, and it would mean so much to Oscar. And he would eventually get it right and tell Nora a story, to which she listened intently.

 

Nora knew him.

 

Ren knew him. Ren was known for being the cooker of the group - and he seemed to stress bake. So, whenever Oscar was stressed or upset, he would pull Oscar into the kitchen and make him help with a recipe that he had been working on. Whether it was cookies, brownies, cupcakes - Oscar was right beside Ren, helping. The only problem was that Oscar had to read the recipe out loud, and he would stop and stutter, rocking on his heels and trying to will his hand to stop shaking because he was shaking the paper too and he couldn’t read. But Ren would stop and help with certain words that Oscar had trouble with - he would wait patiently as Oscar worked out a word, or a phrase, or the exact amount of an ingredient needed. And when Oscar managed to jump the hurdle - climb the obstacle - Ren would encourage him softly, pat him on the head and use the knowledge that was given to him to continue the recipe. Of course, as most baking sessions go, the pair have burned more cookies than they can count, undercooked more cupcakes than they can count, and spilled melted chocolate onto themselves and the floor about twice. But it always put a smile on Oscar’s face, and that’s what mattered to Ren.

 

Ren knew him.

 

Ozpin knew him, too. He was literally embedded into Oscar’s conscious - he could feel everything Oscar was feeling, and Oscar could feel everything he was feeling. Which is why whenever Oscar was feeling particularly panicky, Ozpin would help - with talking, with his breathing exercises (the feather always worked like a charm) - with anything Oscar needed. When asked if he was feeling better, Oscar always stuttered. He tripped and slipped his way to the end of his sentence, curling in on himself the more he did so. But Ozpin understood - he always had and always would. So he would reassure Oscar - tell him that it was okay to stutter, that it was okay to feel unsure - that it was okay to feel that way. Oscar believed him, 100 percent.

 

_But I’m okay in see through skin._

 

Oscar knee that he was see-through - that it was obvious when he was upset, or nervous - he wasn’t the best actor and he knew that. But he was okay with that - because while he may not know it himself, the people who cared about him knew how he felt and how to help. And it made Oscar feel all fuzzy inside. Gratitude was hard to express.

 

_I forgive what is within._

 

Ozpin was… something jarring that Oscar couldn’t get rid of no matter how hard he tried, wished and hoped. He was resentful at first, unforgiving towards the man in his head - the one whose soul was merging with him. The man who apologized every step of the way when he was heading to Haven. But it was okay now, Oscar realized. He met all of them because of Ozpin - and Ozpin was a huge help. Forgiveness is something that was hard to express.

 

_‘Cause I’m in this house - I’m in this home._

 

As long as Oscar was with the people he cared about - as long as he was with the people who cared about him - he would be fine. He would be okay. He had found a second home with them. These… feelings of platonic love were hard to express.

 

_All my time._

 

But he’d be damned if he didn’t try to express them - so he did.

 

Every single day, he tried.

 

And he was making progress. Slowly.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading ^


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which there is a ukulele

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiiii  
> okay so this was quick  
> im going to give you short chapters , but hopefully two more because im about to go to sparkle emoji camp sparkle emoji so i dont really have a lot of Time  
> but when i get back ! ill be sure to write longer chapters  
> the song used in this chapter is love and death from steven universe !  
> enjoy ^

“Woah! Is that a ukulele?” Oscar exclaimed with a grin, pointing to a small guitar in the window of a store. Yang frowned and tilted her head to the side.

 

“...no it just… looks like a small guitar.” Yang said, looking down at the freckled boy. 

 

Oscar looked up at Yang, then looked back at the small guitar. “Can I go in and look at it please? I’m sure the others won’t notice if I’m gone for a bit.” 

 

The marketplace was small… and looking wouldn’t hurt…

 

“Fine. I’ll go in with you, though.” Yang replied. “It looks interesting.”

 

Oscar _lit up_ and zoomed into the store (after holding the door open for Yang, of course) and went straight to a worker, then disappeared into the back of the store. 

 

Yang chuckled to herself and looked around, seeing all the bright guitars and different instruments. She shuffled and hit a few keys on the piano, strummed the guitar once or twice, and laughed when she scared an unsuspecting customer with a loud electric guitar that she didn’t mean to set off. She then stopped, hearing light, little strumming noises from the back of the store.

 

Curious, she walked to the back of the store and saw Oscar, sitting criss-cross on the floor, holding the small guitar and in front of a piece of sheet music. He was making his way through the music slowly, swaying slightly to the beat of the music. 

 

Yang smiled and sat down next to him. “Whatd’ya doing there, Oscar?”

 

“Oh!” The freckled boy stopped playing to look at Yang. “I’m just playing the ukulele. Watch - “ He strummed. “Isn’t it pretty?” He asked in a sing-song voice. Yang furrowed her eyebrows and looked at the sheet music.

 

“That’s… exceedingly simple,” she replied, reading off of the lyrics on the sheet. “Do… mi, so, ti?”

 

“We’re making music!” Oscar said in that same sing-song voice.

 

“What’s the point? You’re not making anything.” Yang continued to read as Oscar played the chords. The music was very nice on the ears. 

 

“Well… if it isn’t anything then why does it sound so good?” Oscar looked up at Yang and winked. Yang huffed a little, trying to get into character.

 

“I suppose it’s just interest - do, mi, so, do - devoid of substance or purpose - a hypothetical pattern… do, mi, so, ti… for the satisfaction of bringing it to completion!’ She threw her hands in the air.

 

Oscar simply shrugged. “Sure.”

 

“Do, mi, so, ti… interest without meaning? Solutions without problems?” Yang furrowed her eyebrows and looked down at Oscar, who was smiling. 

 

“And then you just add words - here’s one I’ve been working on.” The freckled boy straightened up and began to strum a bit louder, the melody now clear and present. “Life and death and love and birth and peace and war on the planet earth. Is there anything that’s worth more than peace and love on the planet earth, whoah, come on and sing it with me,” Oscar wiggled his eyebrows, and Yang laughed.

 

“Sing?”

 

“The words relate to the key,”

 

“Key?”

 

“If it’s a pattern - if it’s a pattern, then just repeat after me: life and death and love and birth…”

 

Yang wasn’t too much of a singer, but she tried. “Life and death and love and birth?”

 

“Now you sing, mi-fa-mi-mi-fa-mi-ti-la-”

 

“And peace and war on the planet earth!’ They joined in unison, grinning at each other. Oscar’s eyes lit up with delight, looking the happiest Yang had seen him in days.

 

“Yes, yes, that’s it!” 

 

“That’s so easy.” Yang tilted her head to the side. 

 

“Yeah, but that’s what fun about it. You should write something - you should write a song!”

 

“About what?”  


“About whatever you’re thinking!” 

 

Yang put her hands up, stopping the music from the ukulele. “Woah, woah, okay. I’m not that much of a singer, Oscar.” She said with a small smile. “But this was fun! I’m sure Weiss would love to duet with you using that thing.” 

 

Oscar nodded. “Thanks for… indulging me, Yang. This was fun! You… have a very nice voice.” He rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish smile. 

 

“Aww! Thanks, Oscar! Come on - I’ll get the ukulele for you.” Yang replied, standing up. Oscar’s eyes widened and he frantically shook his head.

 

“No, no! It’s fine - I’ll get it myself.” He said hurriedly, standing up with the ukulele in his hands. 

 

“With what money?”

 

“...Qrow gave me money this morning.” Oscar muttered. Yang laughed, reaching out and ruffling Oscar’s hair.

 

“You’re not using that money right now - keep it for emergencies.” Yang replied. “C’mon - my treat. Consider it an apology for cutting us short.”

 

Oscar grumbled something to himself and held out the ukulele, which Yang took. “Aw, keep your chin up, little prince.” Yang laughed. “Your crown will slip and fall.”

 

(That was an inside joke. With his new clothes, he literally looked like the little prince from a children’s book.)

 

Oscar rolled his eyes, but there was a small smile on his face. “Please stop calling me that.”

 

“It’s either little prince or short stack.”

 

“I take it back. Please keep calling me that.” 

 

Yang laughed and put the ukulele on the counter to pay for it. “Great! That’s one less problem we have now.” 

 

The ukulele was more than Yang thought, and it irked her a little bit, but the big hug she got from Oscar made it all worth it. The child practically skipped out of the store, ukulele in hand and bright smile on his face. “Thank you!!” He said for what seemed like the hundredth time. Yang shook her head. 

 

“Oscar, I already told you ‘it’s no problem’, like, a hundred times.” 

 

“Yeah, but I’m super grateful!” He then stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and looked up at the blonde. “What’s your favorite song?”

 

“What?”

 

“What’s your favorite song?” 

 

Yang had to think on that for a moment. “Uh… it’s not a ukulele song.”

 

Oscar waved his hand. “That’s fine. I’m pretty sure I could find something.”

 

“...it’s called Sparks. By a band named Coldplay? It… reminds me of a certain someone.” Yang muttered, shuffling her boots and blushing. Oscar grinned.

 

“Okay! I’ll try and find something - consider it an elongated ‘thank you’ for this!”

 

“You don’t have to-”

 

“I do.”

 

And Yang found Oscar in the basement at 3 in the morning, listening to the song, writing down little notations and chords, and playing by ear. In the morning, he was knocking on her door, asking to come in. 

 

After getting Blake’s approval, Oscar waddled in and plopped himself down on the floor with a piece of paper. He smiled nervously at the two girls in the room and began to play, softly singing along with the song. It sounded… wonderful. Even though it wasn’t a ukulele song, it still sounded authentic and beautiful. 

 

When he was done, Yang couldn’t help but scoop him up into a gigantic hug. “You’re!! So!! Amazing!” She yelled, and Oscar let out a small yelp of surprise.

 

“Thanks! But, uh, can you put me down?” 

 

When the farm boy was back on his feet, he picked up the sheet of paper and smiled. “I really like this song - thanks for introducing it to me!”

 

“It’s my job to spread joy.” Yang said with a playful wink, and Oscar snorted.

 

“Yeah, okay. Well, you guys get back to whatever you were doing before I came. Thank you for listening!”

 

(Why was he so hecking polite?!)

 

When Oscar was out of the room, Blake planted a small kiss on Yang’s cheek and sat down on the bed with a small smile. “You introduced him to that song, huh?”

 

Yang blushed. “Y-yeah, well, it reminds me of a certain someone.” She sat down next to Blake and wrapped an arm around you. “Technically, I just serenaded you.”

 

“You’re such a sap.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sparkle emoji

**Author's Note:**

> yeet


End file.
